The Last Attempt to Save the Pureblood Family Lines
by raspberry dreams
Summary: Voldemort was defeated at the ministry at the end of Harry's fifth year so Harry and his friends are looking forward to their first peaceful year at Hogwarts. Unfortunately, squib births among purebloods are at a record high. A new study reveals that a very low percentage of squibs are born couples who aren't both pureblood. The Wizengamot re-enacts an ancient marriage law.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

It was almost two months since the start of sixth year and things were going remarkably smoothly for Harry. There had been no near death experiences or unexplained mysteries, there were no professors trying to torture him, the school hadn't turned on him for some stupid reason and there was no sign of threats to their lives. In fact, there was nothing to worry about at Hogwarts other than getting his homework finished and whether the team were training hard enough to win their next Quidditch game against Slytherin.

Still Harry was hyper alert as he made his way downstairs and entered the great hall for breakfast, flanked on each side by his best friends. It was Halloween and the day had always been a bad day for him, or perhaps with his new more optimistic outlook on life, he should say a lifechanging day since the troll incident in first year had also been the start of a wonderful friendship. He still dreaded the day and spent the whole day trying not to jump at shadows, though nothing seemed out of place this year and with Voldemort killed when he tried to possess Harry in the ministry last year and the worst of the death eaters captured that night, his friends were hoping for a normal day. Now it was the morning of November first and Ron was light-heartedly teasing him about his paranoia and his dorm mates were laughing about it, but Harry wasn't prepared to relax until after the papers came with the news of what else might have happened on Halloween in the world outside Hogwarts.

At least he hadn't had Snape the day before, and he'd managed to avoid the man all day so he hadn't been able to ruin his weekend with undeserved detentions. Harry could curse Dumbledore for letting the reformed Death Eater teach his favourite subject and the fact that he was better at teaching it than he had been at potions was no consolation. Scowling at the head table he took his seat and began spooning the porridge Hermione had dished up for him into his mouth. His friends considerately left him to his brooding.

Breakfast was well underway in the great hall at Hogwarts when the 'Daily Prophet' was delivered. There were cries of outrage from those that subscribed and curious questions from their friends. Slowly silence fell as people read the front page in shock and their friends who didn't get the paper saw their reactions and looked over their shoulders or took the paper from their hands, reading the lead story disbelievingly.

MINISTRY PASSES MARRIAGE LAWS TO REBUILD OUR POPULATION

_After an emergency session of the Wizengamot last night the ministry spokesperson released the following statement._

_"Our population has fallen to dangerously low levels and with the increasing number of squib births to pureblood couples, to maintain the viability of our society, the Wizengamot has been forced to re-enact the emergency marriage act of 1583._

_As such all unmarried witches and wizards between the ages of 17 and 60 years will be paired with the most magically compatible partner and those couples will have to marry within the next six months. _

_All married couples under the age of 60, including both those couples married under this law and those already married will be required to produce a child within the next 18 months and a second child within the next 5 years, irrespective of any children they may already have._

_Unless a witch or wizard or their spouse are currently incarcerated in Azkaban or certified infertile by a ministry healer, there are no exceptions. Each marriage contracted under this law may be annulled in the case that one of the participants is found to be infertile, or if both members of the couple desire an annulment after the couple has produced three magical children. In the case of the annulment the children will remain in the custody of the elder of the pair and must remain the heirs to both their parents regardless of any subsequent marriage or younger children born._

_To enable the selection of compatible couples, forms will be distributed and must be completed and returned to the office of births deaths and marriages by the end of the month._

_Anyone found not complying with the law will be incarcerated in Azkaban for a period of three months before being rematched and married to a compatible partner._

There had been vague rumours floating around about the Ministry talking about such a law but Harry and Hermione like all the other muggle raised students hadn't believed that it was possible for the Wizengamot to have the votes to pass it, let alone the ability to enforce it on the population.

"They can't do this" Hermione raged.

"Bloody Hell! Mum's fifty seven, I'm going to have another two brothers or sisters!" Ron said in shock.

"I think they can Hermione" Neville said sombrely, ignoring Ron. "They have enacted the emergency marriage act of 1583 twice in history when the population was in danger of falling too low. Last time it was in place for just over ten years. It saved our world."

"I have already saved this world twice. How much more can they ask of me?" Harry asked.

"Look at it this way mate, at least you're being treated the same as everyone else. You'll be matched to someone compatible by your magical signature not because you're the bloody boy who lived" Seamus said.

"There has to be a way out of this" Hermione said determinedly. "I'm going to hit the library and see what I can find."

"Good luck Hermione, do you want some help?" Harry said getting up.

"Thanks Harry" Hermione replied smiling at her friend.

"We have quidditch tryouts tomorrow, you said you'd help me practice" Ron complained.

"This is more important than quidditch, Ron!" Hermione said.

Ron looked gobsmacked as Harry agreed.

Harry and Hermione were soon joined by the other muggleborn students from their year and the year above, the head girl soon organised them in searching various areas of the library looking for a way to block the law or failing that to circumvent it.

Many of the professors were sympathetic, though careful in their efforts to help without appearing to be encouraging the students to break the law, they signed multiple passes for the restricted section on the most flimsy and transparent reasons, and quietly let the students involved in the research that they would not have to hand in their homework if they continued to use the time to continue the search into the new law. Professor Flitwick managed to get copies of the goblins' documentation of what happened the previous times the law was enacted and why it was discontinued on those occasions, and pass them on to a few of his seventh years he knew were looking into careers in law. The students attempted to get the ministry records as well but they were denied. Several of the researchers had fathers on the Wizengamot who may have been able to access the information but unfortunately, none of them trusted their parents enough to ask them for it. They had no way of knowing or finding out for sure, who had voted in favour of the re-enactment of the marriage law, other than what was reported in the newspapers.

The Daily Prophet was staunchly supporting the ministry position that the law was the only hope of saving their society, and the current Witch Weekly was all about how to plan your dream wedding on short notice, but the Quibbler finally printed the information the students had been looking for, the actual results of the vote and which houses had voted for and against the re-enactment of the law. A few of the pureblood students were disappointed to read their fathers or grandfathers had voted in favour of the re-enactment and some of them dropped out of the search for a way around it claiming that they couldn't go against their families like that, others became even more determined in their search.

Several of the students were talking about just packing up and leaving during the next Hogsmeade weekend, disappearing back into the muggle world or even leaving the country. One group began researching magical schools in other English speaking countries for those who chose to flee the country and Professor McGonagall quietly began copying student transcripts ready to hand out to the students who had expressed interest in that group's research before they left the school on the next Hogsmeade weekend. Several professors also started writing letters of recommendation for their best students who had been involved in any part of the research, holding the students back after class with trumped up reasons to pass them on.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

A week of intense research later Hermione announced excited in spite of her exhaustion. "Call the group together, I think I've got something."

"You can find a way to stop them enacting this law?" Mandy Brocklehurst asked incredulously.

Hermione deflated slightly. "No. Not exactly. The only way I can see around us all being married off to whomever the ministry chooses is to beat them to the punch so to speak," Hermione replied. "I've just found a permanent bonding ritual that doesn't need an official to cast it, and cannot be annulled by the ministry or anyone else."

"This is sex magic, is it legal?" Daphne asked, looking over the ritual.

"I checked. It isn't specifically on the list of forbidden rituals and it's not blood magic or dark magic," Hermione said. "But I'd appreciate a second opinion from someone who knows and understands ministry law better than I do, before I tell everyone and raise false hopes." 

A couple of seventh years came over, one had been offered an apprenticeship in runes after graduation and the other one in law. They looked over the notes and had several hushed conversations.

"Granger's right, the ritual isn't illegal, probably because it's so bloody obscure that the morons at the ministry have never heard of it," the runes expert concluded.

"The ministry probably will make it illegal as soon as they find out that we can use it to upset their plans, but it isn't at the moment," the future barrister agreed.

"Then we have no time to waste. We need to offer this ritual to as many muggleborns as we can while keeping it secret from anyone who would tell the ministry or the Wizengamot for as long as we can," Hermione said.

"Not just Muggleborns, this new law will affect us all in the end," Padma said.

"Yes I know, but we all read who was voting for this to be enforced. The worst of the pureblood bigots. We're officially all going to be affected by this law but under current marriage laws it's the muggleborns who will be powerless in these marriages. And I don't think we can trust the ministry to match us all with someone who will treat our muggleborn or blood traitor schoolmates well," Susan Bones replied, concerned about her friends.

"Yeah! Let's call a meeting and see who's interested in trying this ritual. We'll need a secrecy contract so even those who choose not to participate can't inform on the rest of us. I'll have it ready by dinner time," the future lawyer said. "I'll make sure that it prevents them from breaching the secrecy, there's no point in just punishing them afterwards."

Hermione blushed at this criticism, she was right. Marietta had suffered for giving up the DA but the contract hadn't stopped her from talking to Umbridge, the spell hadn't even made her hesitate because she hadn't told anyone about the consequences of breaking the contract, and with her mother's job on the line, pimples might not have been enough to stop her even if she had known.

"The ritual may not be illegal but refusing to marry the spouse the ministry allocates you will be, I would expect that it will be written into the notifications that taking any step to avoid the marriage is against the law," one of the few purebloods who had joined the research warned.

"Yes but the new law only applies to unmarried witches and wizards, we just need to try to get this done before the questionnaires or the notification letters arrive, while it's not currently illegal for any of us to marry," Hermione argued.

"And if they make it illegal retrospectively?" Mandy Brocklehurst asked.

"They can't throw us all in Azkaban. They're doing this to increase the number of magical births. To throw married couples in prison where they can't procreate will reduce the number of children born" Hermione said.

"You can't seriously be that naive. Just because that's what they said they were aiming to do with this law doesn't mean anything, and it doesn't mean that some people won't use bribes to hijack the allocations to meet their own desires," Daphne Greengrass sneered.

"I know that! But that's their public claim, why they said they were proposing the law, how they sold the law to the members of the Wizengamot and to the general public. There will be a massive outcry if they throw us all in Azkaban. I mean there are quite a few students here who have relatives on the Wizengamot. They wouldn't vote to imprison you," Hermione replied.

"No they'll just annul the marriages and force us to marry the people they choose anyway" Blaise Zabini retorted.

"That's the beauty of this solution. If we use this ritual then they won't be able to annul the marriages it creates. The vow of fidelity in the ritual cannot be just set aside like that and there's no counter ritual documented, we wouldn't be able to consummate a marriage to anyone else," Hermione said. "I realise that under normal circumstances not all of you would be ready to make a permanent vow of fidelity to your current boyfriend or girlfriend at this age but at least this way we get to choose who we marry."

"Granger's right, we've been researching ways to get this law overturned but we haven't found anything and even if we did find an effective argument against the law now it probably won't be revoked in time to prevent those of us that are already seventeen from being paired off in the next month and having to marry before spring and produce a child next year. And if the ministry chooses an unbreakable marriage ritual like this it won't matter to us if the law is overturned, we will still be stuck married to people we don't want to be with." Tracy Davis said.

"They can't be planning to use an unbreakable marriage bond. They're allowing couples to divorce after a third child is born," Lisa Turpin said.

"The law says a third magical child not just a third child. With the number of squibs in some of the more pureblood family lines that could be seven or eight children or more. There aren't many witches that can have that many children," Daphne warned.

"Does the rune circle have to be redrawn for each ritual?" Padma asked. "And how many people are good enough at runes to draw this. It looks hideously complex."

"Could we ask the room of requirement to produce the rune circle?" Harry asked.

"I don't know if it would be safe. I'm not sure how the magic of the room would interact with the runes and the couple's wishes," Katie Bell replied. "if the person asking for the room thinks of the wrong thing but the circle still looks similar then I'm not sure we'd notice the problem."

"The other problem is how to do this without the professors noticing" Mandy Brocklehurst said.

"I suggest that we use the abandoned classrooms on the ground floor. Those rooms aren't used for anything and they're not so far out of the way that anyone will notice the increased foot traffic in the area. The stone floors should hold the runes well and if we have all the students taking advanced runes working in shifts we should be able to have all five circles up by tomorrow," Hermione said, having had more practice at getting away with secret projects than the others.

There was more grumbling from those who didn't think it was going to work but nobody had any other suggestions or ideas of what to do.

Harry set off a loud bang with his wand to shut them all up for a minute. "We've all spent hours every day for weeks to try to find a way around the marriage laws and Hermione's found one. It may not be the perfect solution we were hoping for but nobody else even has an idea that they think might work so this may be our only possibility," he said loudly. "I for one think this is worth a try. I'm willing to try to learn to draw the runes."

"I think we should leave it to the people taking advanced runes to draw the circles. They get first go at the ritual and then if we do have to redraw the runes every time maybe we could charge a couple of galleons for it. We can set the price once we know exactly how much time they take to draw and how many times they can be reused before being replaced," Tracy suggested.

In the end there were ten students with the skill to draw the runes that were willing to help out, so they decided to work in pairs to draw rune circles in each of the five classrooms in the abandoned corridor they'd decided to use.

Some pairs like Tracy and Daphne worked together, and others like Hermione and Blaise Zabini preferred to take separate shifts drawing and spent very little time in the room together.

They arrived back after a period when they all had classes to find notes left by the Ancient Runes professor in each room making minor corrections and offering anyone involved extra credit. In some cases the students working together noticed that the circles also seemed to have been partially completed while the students were away.

"Professor Babbling has been trying to help us with the runes. We could ask her about whether we can reuse the rune circles" Leanne suggested.

"I think she's done some of ours too. I hope we can reuse them, otherwise we're going to be spending an awful lot of time redrawing runes. Nearly half the sixth and seventh years have put their names on the list to use the circles" Hermione said tiredly.

"I hope you've got that list really well warded" Angelina warned her. "If we get stopped I wouldn't want the others who didn't get a chance to complete the ritual to be punished as well."

"I have" Hermione replied. "It looks like History of Magic notes to anyone else."

Hermione approached the runes' professor at the end of class the next day. She'd been volunteered for the task as nobody would be suspicious of her wanting to stay and talk to a professor after classes, until they'd started researching the marriage law she'd done it with nearly all her teachers at least once a week. Padma stayed with her.

"We just wanted to say thank you for the assistance you gave us with our rune projects, and ask why you are helping us Professor?" Hermione asked curiously.

"None of the professors approve of forcing students to marry, or of students your age being married at all, to be honest. But I believe it will be less traumatic if you at least know and trust your husband or wife. And to be honest I'd rather help and ensure the runes are correct than risk something going wrong. Rune rituals can be extremely dangerous if not done properly" Professor Bathsheba Babbling replied. She didn't mention that she wasn't the only professor popping in to spend an hour or two drawing runes for the ritual circles.

"So, can we use the circles more than once without redrawing the runes? Is it safe?" Padma asked.

"Yes, so long as none of the runes have faded or become smudged by people entering the circle" Professor Babbling said. "You will need to check every rune in the circle very carefully between each use."

"That's still going to be a lot quicker than erasing it and redrawing all those runes," Padma said pleased.

"Yes but you need to make sure whoever checks the circle is extremely thorough," Professor Babbling warned seriously.

"Thank you, thanks for helping us and for keeping our secret," Hermione said gratefully.

"You're welcome, thank you for going to so much effort for your fellow students," Bathsheba replied smiling at her most enthusiastic student.

Katie Bell also stayed behind after class the next day.

"I spoke with Hermione, and I wanted to say thank you. But I also wanted to ask you a favour," Katie said awkwardly.

"What can I do for you?" Bathsheba asked.

"My best friends Angelina and Alicia graduated last year. Angelina's muggleborn, and she's not good at runes but our other friend Alicia was. I want to tell her about the ritual and give her a copy of the rune circle but I don't want to risk sending it through the mail. Hermione says Harry has a way of getting to Hogsmeade without being seen and I've arranged to meet Alicia and Angelina tomorrow night, but then I wondered if there were any more muggleborns who were good enough at runes to draw a circle like this and are still single. They deserve a chance to make their own choices too, and you'd know who they were. I was hoping that you'd get in contact with them," Katie said rambling.

"It's a very thoughtful idea Katie but your friends don't need to use this ritual. They aren't stuck here in Hogwarts so they can go to the ministry or to a druid celebrant and marry if they don't want to wait for the ministry to assign them a husband. If I were you, I would encourage your friends to marry before they get their letters from the ministry but you can't betray the other students here by telling them anything about the ritual you and your friends are planning on using," Bathsheba said earnestly.

"Oh! You're right. I hadn't thought about that. Thank you, Professor," Katie said, getting up to leave.

"Good luck Miss Bell," Bathsheba said.

"Thanks for talking some sense into me Professor," Katie said.

"You're welcome Miss Bell. Remember though that your concern for your friends wasn't wrong, and your caring for them is a positive thing, you merely had the wrong solution in this circumstance. Do what you can to help them, and ask them to reach out to others," Bathsheba said earnestly.

"I will Professor," Katie promised earnestly.

-o0o-

Harry showed Katie the tunnel to Honeyduke's. "It comes out in the basement so you need to be careful not to be seen until you get up the stairs into the public part of the shop. Please don't tell anyone about the tunnel, not everyone is honest enough to use it without helping themselves to the sweets and I wouldn't want Honeydukes to suffer because we haven't warned them about the tunnel so they can have it sealed up."

"I can't believe you found this," Katie exclaimed. "You seem to know all the secret pathways."

"I didn't find this one, Fred and George showed me, back in third year when I couldn't go to Hogsmeade because my Aunt and Uncle wouldn't sign the permission form," Harry replied.

"That's how they always managed to have access to sweets. Those rats! They could have told us!" Katie exclaimed.

"Don't blame me, I don't know why they never told anyone else," Harry said stepping back slightly.

Katie laughed.

"Have a great afternoon and say hi to Alicia and Angelina for me," Harry said.

"I will, thanks Harry," Katie said.

"Are you going to tell them about the ritual?" Harry asked once they were down in the tunnel and couldn't be overheard.

"No, I promised I wouldn't. Professor Babbling reminded me that they don't need it anyway. They can just go and get married the regular way. I'm going to encourage them to get married as soon as they can, they've still been seeing the twins," Katie said.

"I didn't think they were ever that serious about the twins," Harry commented.

Katie sighed. "I don't know that they are. But the twins now run a successful business, it isn't just all pranking but all the boring stuff that comes with running the shop. They've grown up a lot since leaving Hogwarts. They can definitely afford a family and they've always said they want a large family."

"Which is more than you can say for most of the students here, how many of them do you think can afford to look after a baby?" Harry said.

Katie chuckled slightly. "Yeah you're right about that. I don't think any of us have really thought about that. We're all focussed on escaping the ministry matches, none of us have thought about still having to have a baby. We haven't escaped that have we?"

"No, I think Hermione was too scared about who she might be matched with. She will probably try to get around that part of the law next, at least to get us a delay until we finish our NEWTS."

"But if maybe they're matching up students to people who can afford a child," Katie said.

"They might be but I'd rather be poor than married to a Death Eater," Harry replied.

"Yeah but have you really thought about what it means to be poor?" Katie asked.

"I know what it's like not to have the things you need, to never feel like you've had enough to eat. But my relatives weren't poor, they just hated me too much to spend money on me. I had money in Gringotts but I didn't find out that I was a wizard until I was eleven so I didn't know about it," Harry said bluntly. "I only hope they'll let us all stay in school and get our NEWTS and this won't stop everyone from being employed."

Katie sighed. "I hope so too. At least I'm old enough to sit my NEWTs before that damned law forces me to have a baby."

-o0o-

Katie met her friends near the shrieking shack. "Hey guys, thanks for coming," she said smiling at them. "Harry said to say Hi."

"Katie, what are you doing breaking out of school. Are you planning to leave the country to avoid the marriage law?" Angelina demanded.

"No, are you?" Katie asked.

"I'm getting married, George proposed yesterday," Alicia said holding out her left hand to show off the engagement ring.

"That's great Alicia, when's the big day?" Katie said enthusiastically.

"On Sunday, we want to be married before the ministry starts pairing people up, just in case," Alicia replied. "I would've liked a proper wedding but there isn't time. I wish you could be there but George isn't even going to tell his mother because of the fuss she'd make over not having a proper wedding and we don't want to draw attention to it."

"You could always get married now and have a proper wedding later," Katie said encouragingly.

"What about you Angie?"

"I've got tryouts booked for the Sydney Swoopers Quidditch team in Australia next week. I'll stay long enough to witness 'Licia's wedding and then take a muggle international flight Sunday night. I'm not coming back, whether I get the spot on the team or not," Angelina said trying to sound positive.

"She and Fred broke up just before the Marriage law thing was passed," Alicia explained. "He offered to marry her anyway to protect her but she wouldn't do it."

Katie nodded, she didn't think it would be easy to swallow your pride and marry someone you just broke up with and it wasn't a very auspicious sign for a good marriage if you didn't even want to continue to date each other before you married.

"You should come to Australia with me. Sneak out again and meet me at Heathrow on Sunday night before ten o'clock and I'll get a shrinking potion and put you in my pocket," Angelina said. "I promise to reverse it as soon as we get there. Tell Harry he's welcome to come with us as well. I could get you both a tryout."

"Thanks, I'll tell him, but I think I've got another plan. I'll let you know if it doesn't work out. But how are we going to live if you don't get the job with the Swoopers? I haven't got more than twenty galleons," Katie replied.

"We'll be alright, you'll see. Something will come up," Angelina said confidently.

"You've got a plan?" Alicia asked incredulously. "There is no plan. If you're not married or out of the country by the time the letter comes allocating you a husband then you'll have to marry whoever the ministry pairs you up with!"

"Hermione has a plan," Katie said.

"Even Granger isn't going to get around this law, Katie," Angelina sneered.

"I really don't understand why you don't like her. She's alright. And it can't just be that her researching irritates you, you haven't seen her in months," Katie said.

"You're turning down a free trip to Australia with me because Granger has a plan," Angelina said.

"Yeah she does, and it's a plan that will let me stay in school and sit my NEWTs. What sort of job do you think I would get in Australia with only OWLs?" Katie replied.

"Better to be broke in Australia than married to the likes of Adrien Pucey!" Angelina declared.

Alicia and Katie both shuddered.

"Please come to Australia with me. It will be a hoot," Angelina entreated.

"I think you've been hanging around with the twins too long if you think leaving your country and running for your life is a hoot," Katie said flatly. "But I suppose even if you end up so poor you need to sleep outdoors at least Australia has the weather for it, you won't be sleeping in the snow. You won't be able to come back to England even just to visit, without risking being thrown in Azkaban."

Alicia laughed but Angelina scowled at her friend.

"I have to get going," Katie said wanting to get back to drawing the rune circles, feeling guilty for taking so much time off when she was needed. "I have stuff to do. Good luck with your wedding Alicia, I'm sorry I can't be there for you on your big day." She hugged her friend and kissed her cheek.

"Good luck with Granger's plan. I hope it works out for you," Alicia replied.

"Good luck with the tryouts. I hope that you love Australia," Katie said hugging Angelina tightly. She was going to miss her friend and there was a good chance she might never see her again.

"Thanks Katie, you're still more than welcome to join me if your plan doesn't work, but I guess you're right, it would be better to get your NEWTs if you can," Angelina replied hugging back fiercely.

Katie held her breath as she walked through town and into Honeydukes. She made a fairly large purchase to silently thank them for their unknowing help in letting her leave Hogwarts and snuck back into the tunnel, pleased to find Harry working on his homework while waiting for her on the stairs at the Hogwarts end of the tunnel.

"You came back. I wasn't sure you were going to," Harry said.

"Angelina offered to take me to Australia with her. She's got a tryout there next week and she's not coming back. She offered to take you as well. If we want to go we need to meet her at Heathrow Sunday night," Katie said.

"Is Alicia going?" Harry asked.

"No, I might have chosen to go if it was going to be the three of us. Alicia is marrying George on the weekend but Angelina and Fred broke up before the law was passed," Katie told him.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I thought they were good together," Harry said.

"Are you interested in going with Angie?" Katie asked.

"Well that kind of depends whether the ritual will work for me, and if I can find someone to ask. Ginny told me this morning that she doesn't want to use the ritual to get married. She wants a big white wedding in the Weasley orchard and she isn't prepared to give that up for some secret dirty ritual," Harry said sombrely.

"Oh Harry I'm sorry! Are you okay?" Katie asked hugging him.

"Yeah I'm fine. We hadn't been dating all that long and she's right she's got time to wait until next summer. She was only fifteen in August," Harry made excuses for her.

"And you're only sixteen, you have time to wait too," Katie said gently. "You two could plan to have the big fancy wedding she's been dreaming of next summer."

"I don't know that I trust the ministry to let me wait that long, and they're pretty sure to make this ritual illegal when they find out what we're doing, or move to pair up sixteen year olds to replace the seventeen year olds that will escape their matches. There are a lot of wizards on the Wizengamot and in the ministry who didn't like me killing Voldemort last year in such a public fashion," Harry replied. "Besides she likes to yell too much, and always needs to argue when things don't go exactly her way. I don't know that I want to live with that my whole life."

"What about Hermione? The two of you get along really well. I think she'd probably say yes and you know her well enough to make a life together," Katie asked.

"Hermione asked Ron and he said yes. He's had a crush on her for ages and she seemed to like him too. I don't know how they're going to get along with each other living together full time but hopefully he will have more confidence and be less argumentative once he knows she is his wife," Harry replied trying to sound positive.

"I'm sorry Harry. If I didn't already have a boyfriend then I would be willing to marry you," Katie said.

"Angelina is leaving the country but if you wanted to ask her to marry you instead, she might say yes. She liked you as a person and didn't buy into all that Harry Potter fangirl shite."

"Yeah, but she always treated me like a little kid brother," Harry rejected the idea. "I don't think she could take me seriously as a husband."

"Perhaps you're right. Who are you going to ask?" Katie ask curiously.

Harry sighed, "I don't know. The only girls I spend much time with are Hermione, Ginny Luna and you Angelina and Alicia. One of the girls from the DA is probably my best bet, have you heard of anyone that hasn't already asked someone?"

"Why don't you ask Luna? She's your friend," Katie asked.

"I did, she said she loved me like a brother but it wasn't in our destiny to be more than friends," Harry replied smiling at the memory of his friend's whimsical answer.

"That sounds like Luna. Sorry Harry, I don't know of anyone. I only know that most of the girls in my year have paired up and are waiting for the ritual circles. Speaking of which, I need to get back to helping draw the runes," Katie said, touching his arm sympathetically.

"That's okay Katie, I'm sure I'll find someone," Harry replied bravely.

"I'm sure you will, Harry. Good luck," Katie said.

A/N: Thank you to Child of Dreams, BMS, Tyler'sPrincess, mother oracle, sucinquee, Millie072, and all those who favourited or followed for your support. Sucinquee, I love your ideas and I was very tempted to change the story to use them but this is already completed except for a final editing and it just didn't fit, you should write it yourself.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

They finished the first of the rune circles and those who'd put the effort into drawing them were offered the first use and eagerly started performing rituals. As embarrassed as they were about having had sex while their friends were waiting outside the door, they were excited about the ritual and the feelings it caused as the bond completed. But when the first rune circle users discussed the outcome of the ritual with their friends, they realised that some of them were describing a light surrounding the couple and a feeling of warmth at the end of the ritual and others said they didn't feel anything.

Because the ritual involved sexual intercourse and had to be performed in the nude, nobody wanted to have an observer present while they attempted it to see whether the difference was in the ritual working or if those that didn't notice the light were just too occupied at the time, so the students who had researched the bond and were interested in healing found a diagnostic spell they could cast afterwards that would identify whether or not a marriage bond had formed. The couples that described the light and warmth were found to have a successful bond and those that denied those sensations did not. One couple who had failed to form a bond the first time volunteered to try again and they were successful the second time but when the others tried again none of them were any more successful than the first time, and even when one couple agreed to be observed by someone who knew the ritual well, the watcher couldn't find any errors in the rune circle or the words spoken, the bond just didn't form, and they couldn't explain why it was working for some couples and not for others. In desperation a group of them went to ask Professor Babbling if she knew what might be going wrong.

"Do you have time to talk to us privately? We have a problem with the ritual and we need your help to understand that's going wrong," Padma asked.

"What seems to be the problem?" Bathsheba asked.

"Well we've run three rituals in each circle now but sometimes the bond just hasn't formed and we can't work out why?" Padma said.

"Why doesn't it always work? It's not the runes because otherwise it would all be the same circle that failed and they say they're sure they pronounced all the words correctly," Hermione asked frustrated. She hated when she didn't have all the answers for something and she was frightened because she and Ron were one of the couples who had failed to form a marriage bond.

"If you've ruled out errors in the rune circles and you're sure that the chant was performed correctly, and penetration occurred at the correct time, then that only leaves intent to form the bond," Bathsheba replied thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"I should have thought of that! This ritual is partly intent based. Both of the couple involved have to truly want it to work, to want to form a marriage bond," Padma said. India used a lot more ritual magic than the western world so she had more knowledge of rituals than most of the group involved.

"So they need to be in love?" Hermione asked. As one of the couples who hadn't managed to form a bond she was a little desperate but if she didn't love Ron enough to bond she didn't know what she would do. She firmly banished the tiny thought that whispered in her mind that while she'd been crushing on Ron, she loved Harry as a friend more than she loved Ron as a friend.

"Not at all, the participants don't actually need to even truly like their partners, they just need to be ready and willing to make a lifetime commitment to them. That's why the ministry is using a wedding ritual bound by a third party, because very few people your age are ready for that, particularly with a stranger. I'm a little surprised how many marriage rituals have worked but fear is a powerful motivator," Bathsheba explained.

"How would it work if you didn't love the person?" Mandy Brocklehurst asked.

"Well, to use examples from your year level, Mr Malfoy believes in pureblood supremacy and wants to marry a pureblood, he's also almost fanatically loyal to his father and therefor would want to marry the pureblood witch his father chose for him. I believe he was betrothed to Miss Parkinson until the ministry declared that he would have to marry the witch they deemed most magically compatible. Miss Parkinson wants to become the future lady Malfoy and have access to the Malfoy wealth and social status, so the ritual would probably work for them whether or not they have any genuine affection for each other, even if they personally disliked each other so long as the desire to marry each other was stronger than their dislike. Many of the muggleborns are so afraid of what marriage to a pureblood chosen by the ministry would do to them that the ritual work for them with just about anyone they trusted so long as their partner wanted the marriage as well. The ritual would also be almost guaranteed to work for your friend Mr Potter if he was convinced it was the best way to save a friend, Miss Granger."

"But It didn't work for me and Ron, in spite of the fact we fancied each other and were on the brink of dating," Hermione said miserably. "And in that case, I know we got the wording and everything else right. I was quite impressed by him actually."

"From what I've seen, the youngest Weasley boy isn't mature enough to make a lifetime commitment to anybody," the professor said gently. In truth she was relieved that Hermione hadn't succeeded in binding her life to the lazy boy. He seemed to be a little too callous in the way he treated her favourite student, she would be much better off with her other friend if only the two of them would see it in time.

Though he had expected it, Harry felt an ache in his chest when he heard that his two best friends had attempted to complete the ritual together without telling him.

"What am I going to do. I could end up with someone like Crabbe or Goyle," Hermione said panicking.

"Professor Babbling said the ritual would probably work for us," Harry said hesitantly.

"But you like Ginny!" Hermione protested.

"That doesn't matter, we broke up and she's with Dean now," Harry replied. "He's muggleborn too so they'll probably try to complete the ritual. She didn't want to try it with me."

"Dean put his name down this morning to attempt to complete the ritual with Leanne Tinker," Hermione said gently. "Ginny will be single again if you wanted to try to win her back."

"So Ginny turned him down too," Harry said shrugging. "It doesn't matter, I'm not going to go and beg her to marry me when she's already said no. But if I don't do something the ministry will probably try to pair me with someone like Umbridge to control me. I want to help you Hermione, and we get along well. I think we could have a good marriage."

"They wouldn't, she's too old" Hermione exclaimed disgusted.

"Is she?" Harry asked cynically. "Even with the help of potions? Are you sure of that? She only has to be under sixty to qualify for the matching process. Even sex with McGonagall would be better than her."

Hermione shuddered. "I hadn't even considered adults" she said fearfully. "Will you marry me tonight Harry. Let's go book a turn in one of the rune circles."

Harry nodded his agreement and grinned as he got up to join her. "You know I always thought I would be the one who proposed" he said.

Hermione wrote their names on the list for the rune circle she was in charge of maintaining.

"Okay then, if you want to propose, you have until ten o'clock to come up with this proposal before we get married, " she teased her best friend.

Harry gulped. 'How was he going to make a proposal special with no notice, and no ring or anything? Especially when they weren't romantic with each other,' He asked himself. 'Good going there, Potter! Now she's expecting you to propose.'

Hermione laughed at the way he paled. "Don't worry, if you ask me, you know I'm going to say yes," she reassured him. Then she left for Arithmancy leaving him castigating himself for his smart mouth.

-o0o-

Harry didn't have a ring to propose with, not that it really mattered wedding rings weren't required for the bonding though it was traditional that bonded pairs wore matching gold rings, often etched with runes for love health and fertility. Gold couldn't be transfigured though and Harry really wanted something to give Hermione when he proposed. He thought about sneaking out to Hogsmeade but remembered that they'd all agreed not to make any special purchases that might tip off someone who could inform the ministry and a ring would definitely do that, especially if he purchased it. The seller would probably boast all over town about selling the-boy-who-lived an engagement or wedding ring.

Thinking about jewellery not made of metal, he remembered that his aunt had a really pretty glass pendant given to her for her birthday last summer, he wondered if he could make something like that. He was pretty good at transfiguration and if he started with sand it should be easy enough. He'd learned while doing Dudley's summer catch-up assignments that glass was made from sand. He went down to the edge of the lake and collected the sand into a small pile the size of a ring and concentrated. Hermione's favourite colour was blue so he concentrated on that and after a lot of trial and error made a ring he was happy with. It wasn't perfect but it looked like the imperfections made a deliberate if random pattern. He cast a resizing charm on it so that it would fit perfectly when she put it on but held off casting an unbreakable charm because he wasn't sure if it would interfere with the resizing.

He ran into Neville walking back from the gardens with a bunch of flowers. "Who's the lucky girl Nev?" he called cheerfully.

"Hannah asked me to bond with her" Neville whispered flushing slightly. "We have an appointment in the rune circles before dinner."

"Hannah Abbot the blonde Hufflepuff?" Harry asked.

"Yeah" Neville said.

"She's kind of cute, good for you Nev," Harry said supportively. Harry supposed that the blond was attractive enough though he also remembered her as being one of the first to turn on him in second year and also being particularly vicious with her insults after his name came out of the goblet of fire, but if Neville liked her he was willing to give her a second chance. "I didn't think she was muggleborn though. Is she turning seventeen soon?"

"Not until May, and she's a half blood but she said she was worried that I'll be targeted, for being your friend, and for being part of the DA" Neville replied embarrassed. He knew that the prejudices faced by his friend were unfair.

Harry nodded resignedly. "I think they'll target the Weasleys first since I've been known to visit them in the summer but if you want to marry her then you should go for it. We'll be up for normal selection soon enough anyway, and it might be harder to get married once the ministry knows about this ritual." Harry supposed it boded well for Neville that Hannah had asked his friend even though she wasn't on the list for the first round of arranged marriages.

"What about you Harry? You should ask someone. I know you wanted to bond with Ginny but even though she said no, you can't afford to wait. With Lucius Malfoy in the minister's ear you're likely to end up in danger if you leave it to them to choose your wife" Neville said anxiously.

"It's sorted Nev. Hermione and I have a booking tonight" Harry replied grinning.

"I thought she and Ron bonded a couple of days ago," Neville said confused.

"They tried, but the bond didn't take," Harry replied. "He's probably going to be pissed off if it works for us instead, but there's nothing I can do about that, it's his own fault anyway if he is upset. Hermione's already seventeen and she desperate to be married to be safe from the ministry allocations so it probably failed because he didn't want to be married. We haven't told him about trying, so don't say anything, we'll tell him tomorrow if it works."

"I'll keep it secret Harry. You can trust me" Neville promised. He was slightly disappointed. If he'd known that Hermione hadn't bonded with Ron then he would have asked her himself, he'd always had a bit of a crush on the smartest Gryffindor who so patiently tried to tutor him when he was struggling in class. Neville thought that Hermione deserved to be with someone who found her attractive, not just saw her as one of the guys. He didn't think Harry felt that way about her at all, even less than Ron did, he'd never seen him looking at her the way he looked at Cho and Ginny. Now even if it didn't work between Hermione and Harry, he would already be bonded to Hannah and would have missed his chance to be with Hermione.

Harry noticed Neville's frown and remembered that Neville had invited Hermione to the Yule Ball in fourth year before going with Ginny. He hoped that Neville wasn't regretting agreeing to attempt to bond with Hannah now that he knew Hermione wasn't bonded, and that his regrets, if he had them, wouldn't prevent a bind from forming.

Slightly awkwardly because blokes didn't normally like talking about their feelings he asked. "Would you have said no to Hannah if you'd known Hermione and Ron didn't succeed in bonding?"

"I don't know" Neville said miserably. "I might've thought about asking Hermione but I don't know if I would've found the courage before Hannah asked me and I might've said yes out of sheer relief that I didn't have to ask someone."

"Yeah asking for dates last year was bad enough. Imagine proposing and being turned down," Harry agreed shuddering.

"And yet you proposed to Ginny and to Hermione," Neville said.

"No actually, I didn't. Ginny told me straight out she wasn't willing to go through the ritual with me before I could build up the courage to ask her and then Hermione asked me," Harry said. "I made her a ring though. Would you like to see?" He held out the iridescent blue glass ring.

"It's beautiful," Neville said absently. "I wish I'd known that Ron hadn't married Hermione," he said more to himself.

"But you didn't know and now you need to put it out of your mind" Harry said sternly. "If you allow these thoughts to cause doubts in your mind whether you want to marry Hannah then the bond won't take."

"But I really don't know if I love Hannah like that. I was hoping that the bond forming or not would help me see if I could love her" Neville confessed.

"It doesn't work like that. Hermione told me that Professor Babbling explained to her that whether the bond forms had nothing to do with love, merely the honest and real desire to be bound to the other person for life no matter what the reasons for it" Harry said, sighing. He'd been upset when he found this out too, hoping that the bond forming would mean that he'd made the right choice and the girl he'd ask wanted to be with him Harry and not 'the-boy-who-lived', but apparently it wouldn't make a difference. Not that he had to worry about that with Hermione, she'd always seen him as Harry.

Neville looked shocked that his thoughts about Hermione could cause his bond to fail with Hannah even if they would've been destined for a happy marriage. Did he want that? Would he have wanted that if Harry and Hermione didn't manage to bond? There was no decent way of asking Harry let alone Hannah if they could swap spots so he could have another chance at ditching Hannah and asking Hermione to bond with him if the bond failed with Harry. And would Hermione even agree to try again after she'd failed to bond twice? That would be incredibly embarrassing and he didn't think he'd have the courage to try again, particularly if it hadn't been his own doubts that caused the bond to fail.

"What if I can't put it out of my mind?" Neville asked Harry worriedly.

"Then maybe you shouldn't be trying to bond with Hannah at all. Try to think about the reasons you wanted to bond with Hannah," Harry encouraged him. "She must really like you if she asked you to bond when neither of you are muggleborn or old enough for this round of matches."

The problem was that they main reason Neville had agreed to bond with Hannah was because she asked him to. He was flattered and Hannah was kind of cute and nice and all, but Hermione was beautiful and smart and generous and…"

"I think I need to talk to Hermione," Neville said.

Harry felt an unexpected pain in his chest. He wanted to bond with Hermione goddammit! But did he have the right to hide Neville's feelings from her, didn't she deserve to make the choice, herself. He wanted Hermione to be happy, and maybe she would be happier with Neville though Harry hated to even think about admitting it.

"Go and talk to her then," he said grudgingly. "But make sure you aren't overheard, not even by anyone who already knows about the rituals. This could hurt and embarrass us all if it gets out."

Harry went back outside and sat under a tree down by the lake out of sight of the castle and wrapped his arms around his knees squeezing his fist around the ring until it hurt, wondering why he felt so much like crying. He never cried. He hadn't cried since he realised it only gave his uncle, aunt and cousin happy and made the bullies hit harder.

"Please Hermione, please don't choose him," he whispered to himself over and over, not sure why he felt so distraught about the idea. He reminded himself that Angelina had offered to take him to Australia. Maybe he'd go with her if Hermione chose Neville, then he wouldn't have to see them together, but the idea of not seeing Hermione anymore didn't bring him any comfort either.

Neville raced up to the tower, left his flowers for Hannah on his bed, it seemed wrong to give Hermione flowers he'd picked for someone else and besides it would have drawn too much attention to his looking for her, and came back down asking if anyone knew where Hermione was. He wanted to talk to her before he met Hannah for their bonding. He had to know if he would've had a chance.

"She's on the ground floor working on her project," Ginny replied. "Why?"

"I need to talk to her about something," Neville replied rushing off.

Ginny looked after him, 'Neville and Hermione who would have thought' she said to herself with a grin. She knew Ron would be disappointed but she didn't really care about that. She thought Ron would be happier with a wife who wasn't such a bookworm always nagging him to study anyway.

A/N: Thank you to astridschuehle, Child of Dreams, Greysh, BMS, animeromance1972, Tyler'sPrincess, katmom, Millie072, Rori Potter, mother oracle, firebird-fenix and all those who followed or favourited for your support.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Neville found Hermione and a seventh year Ravenclaw fixing the rune circle. "Hey Neville, don't worry it's almost done, it will be ready for your appointment," she said cheerfully.

"Umm… er.. that's not why I was looking for you, can we talk, umm… in private?" Neville stammered.

"Okay then. Give me a minute then we can talk," Hermione replied. "I need to concentrate on this."

A few minutes later the circle fixed the Ravenclaw boy left and Hermione drew Neville into an empty room opposite. "What is it Neville?"

"Oh.. Um.. I just heard your bonding with Ron didn't work," Neville said nervously.

Hermione frowned, wondering why he was bringing it up. Maybe he was worried that he and Hannah wouldn't achieve a bond and wanted some advice but surely it would be better to ask one of the couples who had succeeded. "No but I think I understand why, hopefully it will work better with Harry tonight, Professor Babbling said we just need to be sure it's what we both want," she replied anxiously.

"Would you wanna bond with me?" Neville blurted desperately.

"Neville you're booked to bond with Hannah this afternoon," Hermione exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah, she asked me and I thought it was worth the try, our grandmothers are friends so I've known her since before Hogwarts and she's always been nice to me… but if you wanted to bond with me then I would rather bond with you… And Harry said that if I was thinking about that, preferring that I was with you then my bond with Hannah might not work because of that… and… I had to know… if… you… well maybe… felt the same…. You deserve to be with someone who doesn't think of you as just a friend," Neville rambled awkwardly.

"Did Harry encourage you to come and talk to me?" Hermione asked, worried that Harry was hoping she'd agree to bond with Neville instead. That didn't make sense though unless someone better had asked him to try the ritual with them, because he needed to bond before the ministry started enforcing marriages and unless Ginny had changed her mind she couldn't think of anyone he would rather be married to. The thought that he might want her to bond with someone else made her feel slightly sick. Luckily for her, her rational side refused to listen to her insecurities and decided to wait and talk to Harry before she jumped to conclusions. She also thought that if one of those things had happened, Harry would have come and told her himself. He most certainly wouldn't have sent Neville.

"Well no, not really. He said that I had to put it out of my mind while I was doing the ritual with Hannah or it wouldn't work. But if it doesn't work for you with Harry and I'm already bonded with Hannah then I would've regretted not asking you," Neville tried to explain. "Harry does know I'm talking to you. I wouldn't do it behind his back."

Hermione tried to conceal her sigh of relief. "I'm fairly sure it will work with Harry, Neville," she said gently. "At least as sure as I would be trying it with you."

"You wouldn't rather it was me then?" Neville asked dejectedly. "Harry has girls asking him all the time. I'm sure he could find someone else he likes."

"No Neville I'm sorry but I wouldn't prefer to marry you than Harry. I know life with Harry won't be the safest option even now Voldemort is dead but I really care about him, and I'd hate to see him end up with someone who only sees him as the boy who lived or the saviour, or wants to use him for his fame. You're right he'd be able to find someone else to agree to try the ritual with him, but I don't think he would be happy marrying a fangirl, even if the bod managed to form," Hermione replied. "But if you really feel like this then are you sure you're ready to bond with Hannah? I always thought that you got along better with Susan than Hannah?"

"Yeah, but Susan asked Ernie MacMillan," Neville replied.

"And you thought I bonded with Ron and Ginny said she didn't want to bond at all. Is that the only reason you said yes to Hannah? Because she deserves someone who wants to be married to her too you know. She really likes you," Hermione said.

Neville blushed. "You're right but what should I do?"

"I don't know Neville. Even with all the doubts you have and the fact you really only feel friendship for Hannah, if the bond works between you, she might still probably be better off with you than with whomever the ministry pairs her with" Hermione said, sighing. "And while I think that normally honesty is always the best maybe it isn't in this case, telling her all this before you bond may cause her enough doubts to make the bond fail on her side even if you decide that you do want it to form. I don't know what to tell you. You must make up your own mind what you want to do. But if you don't want to be bonded to Hannah then the bond wont form and it would be kinder to tell her that than to try the ritual and fail."

"I'm sorry Hermione. I hope this won't stop you from bonding successfully with Harry," Neville replied contritely.

"I don't think it will, Nev." Hermione reassured him, confidently. "At least not on my part."

"Are you going to tell Harry?" Neville asked.

"Not before we bond unless he asks me about it," Hermione replied, "but I won't lie to him if he asks. It won't cause problems with us bonding for him to know that I had another option and still chose him."

-o0o-

"Did Neville speak to you?" Harry asked as Hermione sat down next to him at dinner. Uncharacteristically, Ron hadn't arrived yet.

Hermione cast a muffliato to prevent those around them listening to their conversation. "Yes he did. He said you encouraged him to. Were you hoping that I'd take him up on his offer?" Hermione asked watching his expression carefully.

"No, I just wanted to make sure you knew you had another choice now while there was still time to make it. I didn't want you to find out tomorrow or next week that I'd stopped him from asking you, and regret marrying me," Harry replied. He didn't tell her how much the thought of that hurt him.

"I don't want to marry Neville, even if he hadn't already promised to marry Hannah, I would prefer to marry you unless you don't want to," Hermione said honestly.

Harry smiled in relief. "I want to" he said. Seeing that Hermione still looked uncertain he explained his feelings.

"When Neville told me he wanted to marry you, I was angry with him for accepting Hannah if he wanted to be with someone else. I don't know her well, or like her much personally, but she really cares about Nev and she's going to be really hurt if she finds out about all this. She deserves better than to marry someone who would prefer to be married to somebody else. But my main reaction was a feeling of loss. I didn't want him to tell you because I didn't want to risk losing you but I also thought that I didn't have the right to make that choice for you, and I kind of needed to know that you actually chose me, not just settled for me because you thought you didn't have a better choice," Harry rambled nervously trying to explain his feelings.

"Oh Harry I told him no! I want to marry you. I know you know that Ron and I tried to bond Harry, but you need to know it wasn't because I preferred him to you. You're my best friend but I honestly thought you and Ginny would bond," Hermione said.

"I tried to ask Ginny, she was my girlfriend, of course she was the girl I thought of first, and I was sure you and Ron would make a go of it," Harry confirmed. "But she stopped me before I could even begin to ask. She said that seeing as neither of us are muggleborn then we don't need to bond yet and she wasn't ready to tie herself down like that. She wanted to have some fun before she thought about getting married."

"She's an idiot, doesn't she realise that for all muggleborns to marry purebloods there must be purebloods being forced to marry as well" Hermione exploded.

"No, I don't think she does realise it. Of course, the ministry haven't said anything about that. I'm wondering whether they're actually planning on giving the purebloods a choice," Harry said.

"It wouldn't surprise me" Hermione said disgustedly. "But it won't be purebloods our age that choose to marry it will be wizards our parent's age or older."

"That kind of makes sense, remember that if you divorce your husband or wife after having three kids they older partner will be given custody, not the more pureblood partner so I think they're going to make sure that we are paired with people at least a year older than us, but is there enough purebloods to marry all the muggleborns without using the purebloods still at school?" Harry said.

"I don't know but they're using half bloods with mostly magical ancestors as well, and at least that means I won't be forced to marry Malfoy, Crabbe or Goyle if our bond doesn't work," Hermione replied grimacing at the thought of the Slytherin boys.

"But Parkinson and Bulstrode are both older than me," Harry groaned.

Ron arrived and dragged Harry into a conversation about professional quidditch players, and what he'd read that afternoon in the Quidditch magazine.

"They're making Galvin Gudgeon marry, and he says he's afraid he'd have to give up Quidditch!" he exclaimed, while shovelling food into his mouth.

"Well yes the Cannons haven't won the league in decades, I wouldn't think they'd pay their players very well," Hermione said nodding. "You can't blame his wife for expecting him to earn a decent living, especially since they're going to have to have a baby almost straight away."

"Never mind him. The whole Harpies team will have to have a baby next year! Including all the reserves and anyone else they tried to recruit to play!" Katie Bell exclaimed in shock. "That isn't fair, the team might have to disband."

Harry nodded, babies cost money. He wasn't sure how much but he knew it was a lot. It was one of his Aunt Petunia's complaints, that they couldn't afford to have a second child of their own because they'd been saddled with the cost of him. But he hadn't thought about the fact that pregnant witches shouldn't play quidditch, he guessed there were other things they shouldn't do either, like fight a war. Could that be the pureblood's secret agenda? To get all the muggleborn witches pregnant to halve the opposition if Voldemort was resurrected again?"

"Yeah how's that going to work if all the married couples have to have a baby straight away. How do we finish our schooling and how will we afford a baby?" Katie asked.

"I don't think the ministry cares whether muggleborns are able to complete their educations," Hermione said angrily. "Pregnant witches aren't allowed to attend classes that require the use of active magic or potions, even if they can afford it."

"You've got plenty of money in the Potter Vaults, Harry," Ron said resentfully.

Harry looked at him surprised but didn't want to argue with him tonight. Telling Ron that they were married and getting him to accept it, tomorrow if the bond worked would be difficult enough without him already being mad at them.

"But that means that the pureblood witches couldn't attend those classes either," Katie said.

"Hermione thinks that they will make sure the pureblood is older than the muggleborns which would give them custody of the children if the marriages ended without them having to state that the children would be kept by the purer blooded parent," Harry said.

"Not to mention that if an of age witch or wizard married a student, they'd probably have financial control of the marriage, and therefore more control of their husband or wife," Hermione added.

-o0o-

Harry waited while Hermione finished eating to leave the great hall together and they walked towards the hallway they were using for the rune circles. As soon as he could guarantee they were alone Harry pulled her to turn to face him and sank down on one knee. Hermione Granger will you marry me?" he said baldly holding out the ring he'd made.

"Yes Harry I will," Hermione replied. "But you shouldn't have bought a ring, someone could get suspicious and send word to the ministry that students are trying to circumvent the marriage law arrangements. We all agreed not to do that and I hate to remind you but you're Harry Potter. The shopkeeper will take more notice of your purchases. What if he brags to the wrong people?"

"I didn't buy it Hermione, I made it. It's only made out of transfigured sand but I used a permanent transfiguration, and resizing charms, once it resizes to fit you I'll add an unbreakable charm," Harry said getting to his feet.

Hermione hugged him. "It's beautiful, I've never seen anything like it. What did you transfigure the sand into?" she asked curiously.

"I can't transfigure metals yet but Aunt Petunia had an ionised glass pendant that's really pretty. I figured I'd use sand because glass is made of sand which would help make the transfiguration easier. I know you won't be able to wear it until this whole thing comes out but I wanted you to have something," Harry said.

"I love it," Hermione said hugging him again. She put the ring on her hand and watched it resize before she took it back off and handed it to Harry to put on the last charm.

"I know it doesn't have the protections that old family rings have but I didn't know how to put them on. Once everything is settled we can go and buy you a proper engagement and wedding ring," Harry said.

"You don't have to Harry, this one is lovely," Hermione replied putting it back on even though she would need to take it off again for the ritual in a moment. "And there might be a Potter family ring in your vault."

"There's nothing but money in my trust Vault," Harry replied.

"Yes but the Potters were an ancient and noble family, they probably have an heirloom vault as well, though you might not be able to access it until you're seventeen," Hermione said.

"Oh. Nobody told me I have another vault," Harry replied.

"You didn't really think that Ron is jealous of you having money because of what's in your trust vault did you?" Hermione asked surprised.

"Well yes, when we went shopping before second year the Weasley vault was almost empty. Mrs Weasley took every knut out of it to buy their school things and they still got everything second hand," Harry replied.

"Oh, I didn't know that. I didn't think they were so very poor. Mr Weasley is a department head at the ministry," Hermione said.

"Head of a department of two who look after muggles, it wouldn't pay very well and you said it yourself, children cost money," Harry replied.

"Yes they do, even if Arthur did earn a good wage, seven sets of Hogwarts fees would be a huge amount. No wonder they don't have money for luxuries," Hermione agreed.

"It must have been what Ron's parents wanted, even if he isn't too thrilled about it. I envy him his family nearly as much as he envies me the vault full of inherited money," Harry said almost sadly.

"Are you upset that I didn't choose you first?" Hermione asked.

"No of course not. I've known for ages that you were interested in Ron and that he had a crush on you. I'm sorry for your sake that it didn't work out for you," Harry replied smiling at his friend.

"You're not upset that I'm not a virgin?" Hermione asked trying not to blush.

"No?" Harry said sounding confused.

"It's a sex ritual Harry. The bond didn't form but Ron and I did complete the ritual, we did have sex," Hermione explained, blushing profusely.

"I guess it's a good thing that one of us knows what we are doing," Harry offered smiling crookedly.

"I don't know much about it. It didn't go very well," Hermione said grimacing.

"Oh.." Harry said blushing.

"Do you want to know why it failed?" Hermione asked.

Harry looked taken aback for a moment. "The ritual or the sex?" he asked hesitantly.

"The ritual," Hermione squawked blushing hotly. 

"I'd assumed you didn't know," he replied. But you don't have to tell me unless you want to."

"The runes were perfect, I checked them afterwards, he said the words right, and the sex worked as it was supposed to, though I didn't enjoy it. He ejaculated at the right time. I didn't orgasm but the ritual doesn't require me to. I checked that. I wanted it to work. I wanted to be married to Ron. So I have to assume that the bond failed to form because he didn't want to be married to me," Hermione said bluntly.

"That's what I thought would be the reason. I don't think Ron wants to be married yet at all, like Ginny didn't. He wants to stay at home and have his Mum look after him, he's not ready to be a grown up and marriage is a very grown up commitment," Harry said.

"And you are?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione, I would do anything to keep you safe. I want you to be happy and to live the life you want. And I want a family of my own. It's all I've ever wanted," Harry said.

"You want children right away?" Hermione asked shocked and worried.

"Eventually, though we don't really have a choice about that unless the law is revoked, but a wife is family too Hermione. You will be my family," Harry said excitedly.

"And you're sure you wouldn't secretly rather me be your sister?" Hermione asked.

Harry smiled. "I've never had either a wife or a sister, but seems to me you're already more important to me than Ginny is to any of her brothers."

Hermione leaned over and hugged him. "This is going to work isn't it," she declared confidently.

"It will Hermione!" Harry said determinedly.

Hermione frowned. "Please tell me you don't want too many children? Not as many as the Weasleys," she begged.

"Well I hadn't thought about it but Professor Trelawney told me I was going to have a dozen?" Harry said teasingly.

"She also said you were going to die gruesomely every week and be minister of magic. I'll take my chances," Hermione retorted.

"No, I don't want twelve or even seven but I would like at least two. It would've been nice to have a brother or sister, if I wasn't at the Dursleys," Harry replied more seriously.

"We have to have two anyway according to the law," Hermione said.

"Yeah, how many would you want?" Harry asked.

"I wouldn't mind two at some stage, but not now. I'd rather wait until I finished university or an apprenticeship and established myself in my work," Hermione admitted.

"I can understand that," Harry said. "But I don't think I'd mind looking after the baby so you could study or work if that's what you wanted. You'll probably get a better job than me anyway."

"Are you confident with the ritual itself? I haven't had as much time to go through it with you," Hermione asked.

"I'm confident with the words," Harry replied, quickly repeating them for her.

"And the rest?" Hermione asked.

"I'm a little… I've never... but Ron said the ritual helped with not coming too quickly before the right time," Harry stammered.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Hermione asked.

"Not really. If we had more time I would suggest we had a practice run or two but..." Harry said nervously.

"Let's get this done," Hermione said as the couple before them came out smiling.

Harry nodded and Hermione sealed the door casting the silencing charms on it, before they both awkwardly undressed, trying to sneak peeks at each other while the other person wasn't looking and blushing furiously as they were caught.

"Careful where you put your feet," Hermione said taking his hand and leading him into the centre of the rune circle.

It took some effort for Harry to concentrate on his feet with Hermione's bare bum right in front of him but at least he was able to stop worrying that he wouldn't be able to perform under the pressure. Hermione lay on her back and opened her legs. Harry hesitated staring at her for a moment. "You're beautiful" he whispered reverently.

Hermione blushed pleased, but gestured to him to get on with it. He moved on top of her and Hermione reached down to guide him into her core. The moment he breached her she began chanting her half of the spell and, with difficulty, Harry managed to gather his wits to complete his part. They had just managed to repeat it the third time when Harry lost control and came with a surge of his hips making Hermione wince in pain. She hasn't really been aroused anywhere near enough to be penetrated and neither of them had the experience to know that or how to prepare her.

Light flashed between them and a warm feeling washed over them, Hermione grinned triumphantly. "It worked!"

Harry grinned too, and tried to hug her. Hermione pulled his head down and kissed his cheek. Harry kissed her back on the lips. It was quite a chaste little peck for a couple that had just had sex but both of them thought it was perfect.

"Um... We better get up and dressed. The next couple are probably waiting for the room," Hermione said blushing.

Harry scrambled to his feet, scarlet faced and held out his hand to help Hermione up.

Getting redressed was almost as awkward as undressing had been, they both hurriedly pulled on their clothes wishing that they could clean up a little first, sneaking glances at each other, blushing and grinning when they caught each other's eyes. Hermione grabbed a rag and went back into the centre to wipe the floor before carefully checking the rune circle for damage.

They left the room embarrassedly greeting the seventh year Hufflepuff and fifth year Slytherin waiting without words, but Harry got through it by reminding himself that Hermione had done this before and having to come out and admit that they'd failed to achieve a bond would've been even more mortifying.

Harry took Hermione's hand as they walked back towards the common room.

"I want to get another book from the library for my potions essay. There's plenty of time before curfew. You don't have to come if you don't want to," Hermione said.

"I'm happy to come with you, unless you want to be alone for a bit," Harry replied, not wanting to leave her but unsure what she wanted, and not wanting to push himself in if she needed time alone.

Hermione just kept hold of his hand as they walked past the corridor that would lead to the Gryffindor common room. They collected the book she wanted and arrived back in the common room just before curfew and sat down at the table to complete their potions homework.

A/N: Thank you to Tyler'sPrincess, katmom, caughtinblackseyes, Child of Dreams, BMS, roon0, Daphne is our Queen, Rori Potter, Millie072, sucinquee, Jostanos, , .Wonderland.8510 and those who favourited or followed for your support.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

The younger years slowly moved upstairs and Harry finished his essay and was about to suggest that they move over to one of the couches and talk for a bit when one of the seventh years came running in frantically, asking Hermione to come and fix one of the rune circles.

"I'll get my cloak and my map," Harry said.

"You don't need to come," Hermione protested.

"I won't if you don't want me to, but I'll feel better if I know you have the tools to avoid being caught," Harry said.

"Thanks Harry," Hermione said smiling at him.

Neville was waiting for Harry when he arrived up in the dorm.

"Hey Harry," Neville said quietly, wondering if Hermione had told him.

"Hey Neville," Harry said shortly. He was still a little angry with the boy for trying to talk Hermione into bonding with him instead.

"Did you and Hermione bond?" Neville asked.

"Yes," Harry said proudly and happily. "We did!"

"Oh… Congratulations," Neville said stiffly.

"You and Hannah?" Harry asked to be polite, though he didn't think they had from the way Neville was acting.

"No, we went through the ritual and it didn't work," Neville admitted. He'd been hoping that the ritual's failure was a sign that he was meant to be with Hermione after all, but it seems she wasn't meant to be with him.

"What are you going to do?" Harry asked in spite of his anger.

Neville sighed. "Wait for the ministry to choose me a wife, there isn't anyone else I want to marry.

Can I ask why you didn't bond with Ginny? She was your girlfriend."

"She didn't want to try it. She said she wasn't ready to bond. Remember she's one of the youngest in her year level too, the law won't affect her until August of the year after next, she feels she still has time for a proper wedding in the family orchard like she's always dreamed of," Harry said, trying to excuse her.

"Yeah," Neville replied. "But I thought she wanted to be with you. She talked a lot about you, even when she was with Dean and at the Yule Ball as my date, she used to ask me about you all the time."

"She wanted to be my girlfriend. Becoming a wife was a step too far for her at the moment. Remember that now I'm married I have a year to have a child. By waiting until she has to Ginny will be able to finish her NEWTs before falling pregnant," Harry replied. "I can't blame her for wanting to finish school. I just wish that Hermione could too."

"What do you mean, you beat the law by marrying Hermione," Neville said.

"No unfortunately, we didn't, not all of it, we just prevented the ministry from being able to choose who we were married to. The law also stated that all married couples have twelve months to have another child," Harry said. "Our bonding protected her from being paired up with a Death Eater or some old creep but it hasn't changed that."

"I guess I'm glad it didn't work with Hannah then, I'm not ready to be a father," Neville said.

"Unless the law is repealed you will have to be by the summer after your NEWTS anyway," Harry reminded him.

"Where are… no never mind. I'll see you tomorrow," Neville said blushing.

Harry blushed too as he realised what Neville thought. "Hermione's going to help repair the rune circles. Something's gone wrong with one of them and the people booked to use it don't want to wait until tomorrow," he explained hurriedly.

Harry walked Hermione down to the first floor and waited with the couples that were waiting for the rune circles. They gave him some odd looks for being alone but none of them wanted to talk as a group. There were two couples who were obviously dating, one making out in the corner and the other whispering and giggling to each other and the third couple were highly embarrassed and trying not to look at each other, Harry didn't want to judge and he knew the results had been surprising but he couldn't see the third couple successfully completing the bond.

Harry wished he'd brought something to do, even homework would be better than sitting here awkwardly. He contemplated going back to get his books but without knowing how long Hermione would be he didn't want to risk not being there when she finished. They weren't far from the kitchens though so he went to get snacks for himself, the couples waiting and the people fixing the runes. The couples weren't interested in eating but Hermione and Padma were hungry and grateful for the food. Hermione was exhausted she'd spent every spare moment drawing and maintaining the rune circles and stressing about her future. She was glad that she and Harry had been able to complete the ritual the day he offered to and she didn't have to spend the night worrying whether it would work, or having nightmares that it wouldn't because Harry didn't care for her enough either.

-o0o-

Harry and Hermione were awkward with each other when they met the next morning each not knowing whether they should treat each other differently or not.

After a moment, Harry gathered his courage and gave Hermione a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Good morning," he said.

"Morning Harry, did you sleep well?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, better than usual. Something you should know if you don't already, Neville and Hannah's ritual didn't work," he said dropping his voice.

"I can't say I'm surprised. He didn't seem to me like he was committed to wanting it to work," Hermione said. "Did he say how Hannah took it?"

"No, he didn't mention her, and I didn't ask. I think he only accepted her proposal in the first place because he thought you bonded with Ron, Ginny bonded with me or Dean and Susan Bones had already asked someone else too, and it saved him the trouble of asking someone himself. He said he's not going to try again and he'll wait to be matched by the ministry. He was disappointed that you and I succeeded," Harry said thoughtfully.

Hermione sighed. "Fourth choice, no wonder it didn't work," she muttered. "He should have said no and let Hannah ask someone else."

"Yeah, you're right," Harry agreed. "He didn't say anything to me, but I could see he was disappointed that our bond worked and he didn't get a second chance with you."

"I wouldn't have tried with him anyway. If it hadn't worked with you, I was going to leave the country. Mum and Dad had been talking about visiting cousins in Australia," Hermione replied.

"Maybe you should go anyway over the summer. We could do our seventh year and sit our NEWTs in Australia before we have a baby," Harry said.

"Hopefully the law will be amended to allow us to finish school," Hermione said. "That's going to be our next fight once we get everyone through the ritual."

"Are there many more couples waiting to do the ritual? I thought they'd be just about done by now," Harry asked.

"We will be finished with the couples currently on the list late tonight if the rune circles hold up, but every day there's been new couples wanting to sign up," Hermione replied. "All the seventh year muggleborns have been successful now, but there's still some halfblood and pureblood couples who want to try and some of the fifth and sixth year muggleborns are worried that this will be made illegal once the ministry finds out what we've done and they won't be able to find another way out of the ministry matches. We've even had a fourth year couple sign up, they're a bit too young but they're really serious about each other."

"That Ravenclaw couple that are always together?" Ginny assumed.

"That's them, I think that they were betrothed until this law came in and made family betrothals illegal," Hermione said.

"Really? I thought there were more failures," Harry said.

"There were at first, but once they worked out that it didn't need to be romantic you both just had to want to get married it went a bit smoother. A lot of muggleborns ended up marrying each other, their combined desperation to protect themselves from the ministry matches was enough," Hermione explained.

"So they married someone they're not attracted to or in love with. That's not going to make for peaceful marriages," Ginny said.

"I don't know about that, most of them have married friends. I think I'll have a lot more harmonious marriage with Hermione than you and I would've had. I hate fighting and yelling but you enjoy arguing for the sake of it and your temper is too much like your mum's," Harry said. "That's not to say I don't love Hermione of course, but I never thought about liking her romantically and we did both at least try to ask someone else first."

"Hermione gets into just as many fights as I do," Ginny protested, missing the point that Harry and Hermione had already married each other. She didn't want Harry to start thinking of Hermione as a potential partner, he was noble enough to sacrifice their happiness together if he thought like that.

"Not with me," Harry defended his wife.

"I get into fights with Ronald and with Malfoy and Parkinson, all of whom usually instigate them, I don't start fights about little things. Even disagreements between the two of us are normally started by you not me," Hermione retorted. "Harry and I rarely argue unless he gets pulled into one of my arguments with Ronald."

Ginny was only half paying attention. She kept looking up waiting for the owls to deliver the mail.

"Expecting a letter, Gin?" Harry asked as one swooped down and dropped a letter for Harry. He looked at the writing, grinned and pocketed it to read later.

"The betrothal notices come out this morning, I'm just curious who will be paired, aren't you?" Ginny said.

"Not particularly, I don't think any of us want to know. I just wish it wasn't happening," Hermione said with a shudder.

"But they said they're going to match on magical compatibility. This person will be the next best thing to your soulmate," Ginny gushed.

"Ginny, the matches are being organised by the ministry. You know how corrupt Fudge is. Hermione will probably be paired with some pureblood wanker who thinks her parentage makes her inferior and will treat her like scum. Particularly if the amendments Malfoy senior is pushing get through and he can take a pureblood wife as well," Harry reminded her.

"Don't worry Harry they're going to pair us together. I just know it. You and I are fated to be together," Ginny said dreamily.

"Then why on earth didn't you agree to bond with him when he wanted you to?" Hermione said huffing as Harry looked at Ginny incredulously.

"I want to have a proper wedding at the Burrow, with the ceremony in the orchard when the trees are all in blossom," Ginny said dreamily. "I have it all planned out. We will need to go home for the Easter holidays to finalise the plans and organise the robes and things. You will be my bridesmaid won't you?"

"Good luck with that Gin. If you're paired with a muggleborn, he's going to want the wedding somewhere that his family and friends from home can come," Harry said casually. He looked at Hermione and she nodded slightly and drew her wand casting Muffliato around them and held it ready to silence or stun Ginny if she reacted badly.

"I'm not going to have to worry about that. I'm not going to invite your horrible relatives, Harry!" Ginny declared.

"Ginny, I'm already married," Harry told her softly. "I didn't trust the ministry and when the ritual didn't work for Hermione with Ron she asked me. We did the ritual and bonded last night."

Ginny looked like she was about to cry for a moment before she started yelling.

"How could you..." Was as far as she got before Hermione silenced her and cast impedimenta to slow her movements so she could pull her back down into her seat.

"You can't go throwing a tantrum and yelling about it here. Someone will tell the ministry and there's still muggleborns waiting for the ritual that you'd put in danger," Hermione hissed, furious at her friend's thoughtless selfishness.

"You have no right to object Ginny. I tried to ask you first. You said you wouldn't even consider doing the ritual!" Harry said getting up. They pulled her to her feet and marched her out of the great hall and into a deserted room where Hermione erected silencing wards before removing the charm from Ginny.

"How could you Harry, you don't love Hermione," Ginny wailed.

"I do love Hermione. She's my best friend. The one that has always been there for me, always seen just Harry and not The-Boy-Who-Lived, always had my best interests at heart. We may not be in romantic love but she's always been one of the most important people in the world to me and I knew she always would be no matter who I married," Harry declared.

"But I'm your true love," Ginny protested.

"Ginny. I never thought you were the love of my life. We only dated for three weeks. And if you remember, you weren't that upset when I broke up with you on Tuesday when you refused to marry me. I told you that if you didn't care about me enough to marry me now then there was no point being together and you didn't argue. And you were kissing Dean again, the very next day so I figured that you didn't have real feelings for me," Harry said incredulously.

"I didn't argue because I didn't want you to keep insisting that we used the ritual to get married straight away. I knew that once this crazy mess died down you would remember what I meant to you and we'd get back together. I love you Harry," Ginny said. She didn't want to admit that the main reason she'd kissed Dean was to make Harry jealous and she was shocked that it hadn't worked, and then she and Dean had had a huge fight as well when she refused to bond with him.

"Well you gambled and lost, Ginny. By breaking up with me when I needed you, you left me free to help Hermione when she needed me," Harry said. "I refuse to apologise, or to regret marrying Hermione. The ministry has it in for me Ginny. I warned you that I couldn't afford to wait around for you to grow up."

Hermione was surprised that Harry was so stern and unapologetic with his girlfriend, and so supportive of the decision to perform the ritual with her. But he must have been hurt by her refusal to have broken up with her over it.

"What's done is done Ginny. And it can't be undone, the ritual we chose promises eternal fidelity so the ministry couldn't just annul the marriages and marry us off as they choose!" Hermione said bluntly.

"What about Ron? Have you told him? He'll be heartbroken!" Ginny accused. "You broke both our hearts. I thought you were supposed to be our friends."

"We haven't told him yet because we haven't seen him since we bonded, but the ritual didn't work for me with Ron because he didn't truly want to marry me. Even knowing that I would be paired up with a stranger of I didn't complete the ritual he couldn't make himself want to protect me enough for the ritual to work," Hermione said huffing. "He can hardly object to me finding someone else willing to protect me. If it wasn't Harry it would have been another muggleborn that wanted to do the ritual or whoever the ministry paired me with."

Harry knew it probably wasn't going to be that easy. Ron's temper often made him explode first and think things through later. They needed to find him and tell him in private before someone else didn't and he gave the secret away with his anger.

"While we've got you in here to work off your anger, you should know that Dean married Leanne Tinker last night as well," Hermione said.

Ginny shrugged dismissively. Dean had been little more than a means to an end, she was totally over him.

"I didn't know he liked Leanne?" Harry asked.

"She got to know him through Katie Bell, he and Katie became friends being on the quidditch team together, and Dean's a muggleborn whose first choice turned him down," Hermione said. "I think they'll make a good couple."

"I didn't say they wouldn't. I just didn't expect it. They've never gone out have they?" Harry asked.

"No, but there are a lot of couples that succeeded in the ritual without having dated, particularly those that had to try more than once," Hermione replied. "I think those that were good friends have a better chance of being happy than those who only just started dating and don't really know each other well enough to know whether their personalities are truly compatible."

"We're going to be late for class," Harry reminded Hermione.

"We need to go Ginny, are you calm enough to keep the secret for the sake of those still waiting to bond, or would you like me to obliviate you until everyone else is safely married?" Hermione asked.

"No don't obliviate me," Ginny said sniffling.

"Then you need to vow not to tell anyone, or talk about it where you might be overheard, that includes writing to your parents," Hermione said firmly. The last thing they needed was for Ginny to tell her mother that Harry and Hermione had broken her heart and for Molly Weasley to send one of them a howler.

Ginny made the vow. "My heart is broken, what do I tell my friends when they see how upset I am?"

"Tell them that you tried to get back together with me and I have a new girlfriend, or that your mum wrote to say the family pet chook died, or something," Harry suggested.

"You really don't care that I love you?" Ginny asked crying.

"If you loved me you wouldn't have said no when I told you I needed to bond with someone. You had to realise I would ask someone else. You didn't care that I was desperate to escape this mess," Harry said unfeelingly.

"Do you regret that it was Hermione and not me at all?" Ginny sobbed.

"Honestly Ginny, not really. I understand that you turned me down because you weren't ready to be a wife and mother. Being married to me now wouldn't have made you happy and you would have resented me for forcing you to have a baby in the next year. I think that things turned out for the best this way," Harry replied, sorry that he was hurting his friend but needing her to let go of what he now realised was only a crush on him and face the truth for her own sake so she could move on.

He wouldn't tell her that he realised while waiting for Hermione to tell him about her talk with Neville that the thought of her changing her mind about wanting to bond with him hurt a lot more than Ginny telling him not to ask her had hurt.

-o0o-

It wasn't until after charms that Hermione remembered that Harry hadn't opened the letter that he received that morning and her curiosity got the better of her.

"Who was your letter from Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Remus," Harry said pulling it out and reading it quickly before handing it to Hermione.

Dear Cub

I wanted you to be one of the first to know that Tonks and I got married today. We have been casually dating for a while and as the daughter of a muggleborn and a pureblood who was disowned from her family she was afraid she would be caught up in the ministry of magic's new law. Some of the rumours about who is organizing the matches is disturbing.

I wish you could have been at the wedding but we thought it best to marry as quietly as possible.

Cub I urge you to give serious thought to getting married yourself this summer before you turn seventeen unless this law is revoked before then and honestly I do not believe that it will be. I would be honoured to help organize your wedding if you need it, though I'm sure Molly would also be more than happy to help arrange everything.

Your Loving Uncle.

"Oh that's wonderful news," Hermione said smiling. "She really cares about him."

"He cares about her too but I always thought it was a more big brother type of caring. Obviously I was wrong," Harry replied.

"I think he did like her romantically but he didn't see how she would love him back so he tried to make it seem platonic. He just lacked the self esteem to believe that anyone would want to be with him seriously with his affliction and the prejudice he faces for it," Hermione said softly. "You should write back and tell him about our marriage."

"We all promised not to do that until the ministry found out," Harry pointed out.

"I'm sure we could be obscure enough that nobody who hasn't read his letter will understand. I'll help you write it," Hermione replied.

A/N: Thank you to roon0, caughtinblackseyes, BMS, katmom, Tyler'sPrincess, Jostanos, mwinter1, mother oracle, Rori Potter, the dragon and the rose, BadWolfJiggy and all those who favourited or followed for your support.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Normally, mail only arrived at breakfast time but today silence fell during lunch as a parliament of owls arrived before hysterical crying and exclamations of shock. Every muggleborn over the age of seventeen received one.

"Don't open them," Hermione yelled. "Don't open them!" She leaned over to the nearest muggleborn on either side of her and whispered urgently. "Pass the word, don't open them until after you've completed the ritual. We don't know what magic the ministry might have cast on them to make us comply with the matches."

Harry looked at his dorm mates, Dean and Seamus immediately moved along the Gryffindor table passing along the message while Parvati went to talk to her sister and Neville went to talk to Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott. Neville really didn't want to talk to Hannah but he was the only Gryffindor in their year that spent any time with the Hufflepuffs and could pass the message without arousing suspicion from the wrong people.

There were a couple of people who hadn't got word in time and they were now crying in horror as they contemplated being forced to marry the witch or wizard the letters announced they were paired with.

Harry wrapped his arms around Hermione. "It means nothing now, they cannot force you to marry anyone," he whispered.

"You do it," Hermione said thrusting the envelope into his hands.

Harry opened the envelope with shaking hands. "Terrence Higgs," he said softly.

Hermione buried her head in Harry's shoulder for comfort. "I recognise the name but I can't picture him.

"The old Slytherin seeker, when we were in first year," Harry said wrapping one arm around Hermione's shoulder. "He was a brute. As mean as Malfoy on his worst day and nearly as thick as Crabbe and Goyle."

Hermione sobbed in relief that she wouldn't need to marry the brute.

Madam Pomfrey stood up and cast a sonorous. "Everybody who opened their letter please accompany me to the hospital wing for a calming draught," she said firmly.

"Who's Hermione have to marry?" Ron asked.

Harry quickly cast a muffliato around the three of them.

"Nobody, thank Merlin she married me last night, so she escapes this atrocity," Harry said. "The ministry paired her up with Terrence Higgs. The Slytherin seeker from our first year."

"You did the ritual with Hermione?" Ron yelled.

"Yes Ron, Hermione asked me and we completed the ritual last night. We were hoping to be able to get you alone to tell you today," Harry said.

"How could you do that to me? You knew I liked her," Ron said upset.

"The ritual didn't work for you and me and I was desperate," Hermione replied, getting up and leaving with the others on their way to the infirmary.

"The ritual worked for you and Hermione?" Ron asked shocked.

"Yeah, it did," Harry said, waiting for Ron's reaction.

"Why didn't you tell me you and Hermione were going to try to bond?" Ron asked, now sounding betrayed.

"Hermione didn't want to tell anyone in case it didn't work for her again," Harry tried to explain.

"I'm not anyone. I'm your best mate! You should have told me!" Ron retorted angrily.

"What about Ginny?" Ron asked starting to yell again. "She's your girlfriend. Wasn't she good enough for the great Harry Potter to marry?"

"Ron, it wasn't like that. Ginny has another two years to marry unless the law gets revoked and Hermione needed to get married immediately," Harry tried to explain.

"But Ginny is your girlfriend. How could you treat her that way?" Ron bellowed, furiously.

"Ginny isn't my girlfriend. We broke up after I tried to ask her to bond with me last week and she said no before I even got the words out. She wasn't ready to get married. Hermione and I told her that we bonded at breakfast this morning and she's pretty upset about it now, but I told her when she said no that I couldn't be with her anymore. I don't understand why she was so upset. She could have tried the ritual with me if she wanted to, she didn't. I warned her I couldn't wait for her. We broke up before you and Hermione attempted the ritual. I thought she was dating Dean again, I saw her kissing him the next morning, so she couldn't have been too upset about breaking up with me. But then Dean said she refused to try the ritual with him either, so he married Leanne Tinker last night," Harry said.

"So you and Ginny didn't even try the ritual?" Ron asked again.

"No Ron, we didn't. As far as I know your precious baby sister is still a virgin. Seems your sister thought she knew what she wanted better than you did. She wouldn't agree to participate in the ritual with me because she still wanted the dream of a big white wedding at home in the orchard in the late spring. She said she wanted to marry me eventually, just not right now when I needed her," Harry said. As he said it he realised he didn't feel at all angry or bitter at Ginny for her choice, he was actually beginning to feel glad that she'd broken up with him and allowed him to marry Hermione. But he knew he couldn't let Ron see how he felt.

"And you couldn't wait? You're not a muggleborn! And you're not seventeen until July. You and Ginny could've had the wedding she wanted next June and lived happily ever after like you were supposed to," Ron said angrily.

"No, I may not be muggleborn, but according to the ministry I'm an attention seeking liar who they want to shut up and control," Harry said. "I guarantee I will be the first half blood caught up in this mess and they will find a way to ignore the fact that I'm not seventeen yet. Besides I had to try to protect Hermione. I couldn't let her wait and be stuck marrying someone like Terrence Higgs! You should be glad that she was already married before she opened that letter. You could feel that it was soaked in magic. There are probably spells on it to stop her from doing anything to try and prevent the marriage now. Surely you didn't want her to be stuck marrying him!?"

Ron looked torn like he still wanted to be angry but had to agree with Harry. He was glad that Hermione was safe, and if he was honest with himself there was a small part of him that had been secretly glad the ritual hadn't worked for him and Hermione, he really hadn't wanted to marry her himself yet, though he'd always thought that's what he wanted in the future. He'd always believed she would be there waiting for him when he was ready for her, and he wasn't ready to let that go. Harry should have known that Hermione was his, even if the bond didn't work the first time. He'd spent the last few days trying to build up the will and courage to ask Hermione to complete the ritual with him again, even if there was a small voice inside him telling him that he still wasn't sure he really wanted it to work. That small voice was now telling him that it was a good thing that Hermione was safely bonded with Harry and that knowing they were bonded eased the guilt he'd felt when he overheard enough to know it was his fault the bond didn't form between him and Hermione.

Unfortunately for their friendship, Ron had a lot of experience in ignoring that little voice. It was the same little voice that had tried to tell him that Harry hadn't wanted to be in the Triwizard tournament, that he wasn't a cheat and that he'd never lied to Ron about anything before. It had taken the shock of watching Harry nearly be killed by a dragon before he'd been prepared to listen that time, and there was no dragon looming on the horizon ready to make Ron listen to his conscience or see sense here and now. He stormed off.

Harry watched him go for a moment, then sighed and went looking for Hermione in the hospital wing.

-o0o-

"What are you doing here, Harry? You weren't supposed to get a letter," Katie asked as he joined Hermione.

"I didn't get one but I opened Hermione's," Harry replied.

"After she told us not to?" Katie asked amused.

"Well yeah, we're already bonded and the spells on the letter weren't aimed at me, we thought it would be safe enough," Harry said reasonably.

"Why'd you tell us not to open it?" Hannah asked Hermione.

"I could feel magic on the envelope. After Harry opened it, I scanned it for spells. There is a charm on the letter preventing you from doing anything which would interfere with the marriage they've arranged, and a simple chastity charm to prevent girls from trying to get pregnant before the wedding, which looked like it could be removed easily enough. There might also be an alert charm to notify the ministry when it was opened and I was worried that attempting the ritual might be impossible or illegal after reading that letter," Hermione explained. "I think it should be safe to open if you've already successfully completed the ritual but I'm not sure. There's one more charm too but I don't know what it does."

Leanne Tinker reached over and cast her own revealing charm. "It's a dark curse of some kind, with a delayed trigger," she said. "You should take it to one of the professors. If I were you and I was warned in time, I wouldn't have opened mine until someone finds out what that curse is."

"So, I can't open it and see who I'm paired with before I make a decision," Lisa said frowning.

"You might be safe enough if you wore your dragonhide gloves," Leanne suggested doubtfully.

"Why would you want to?" Harry asked.

"They said they'd choose the most magically compatible person," Mandy said.

"Of the purebloods who voluntarily agreed to have themselves matched with a muggleborn," Harry said cynically. "Mostly old guys and jerks or near squibs who can't get a date any other way, or who are such chauvinists that no respectable witch would put up with them."

"And this is the ministry who knows whether the selection has been influenced by bribes or blackmail. I know my Aunt is an honest and honourable witch but she herself has told me she is battling the system trying to wipe out the corruption embedded in the ministry and the Wizengamot. I couldn't be comfortable that the matches haven't been influenced. I don't want them making the decision of who I marry," Susan Bones said.

"Those comments almost sound Slytherin," Justin Finch-Fletchly said.

"They paired me with Terence Higgs, the Slytherin seeker who Harry said was a mean brute, thicker that Crabbe and Goyle and Katie tells me was so stupid he had to repeat seventh year twice and still only managed to pass a single NEWT. I doubt we have a single thing in common and he was a huge bully, and a pureblood bigot," Hermione said bluntly. "And if some of the new laws Malfoy and that lot are trying to put forward are passed, we'd end up little better than slaves to our pureblood spouse and his 'real' wife."

"He was a misogynist too, it was his decision not to let girls try out for the Quidditch team and the prefects warned us all to stay away from him or tell him that we were betrothed, because he didn't respect girls at all. I'm glad you don't have to marry him," Tracy Davis said.

"You're right I don't want to marry someone like that," Mandy said sighing. "I want to try the ritual again. But it hasn't worked with my boyfriend or my best male friend. What should I do?"

"Ask a muggleborn. There must be someone else who got a letter this morning and wants a partner, that you trust and get along well enough with," Harry said.

"Will opening my letter prevent me from completing the ritual to bond?" Mandy asked, before slamming her hands over her mouth and looking at the other girls apologetically, but none of the professors looked surprised or confused by her comment.

Professor McGonagall and Professor Babbling examined one of the letters while Madame Pomfrey cast several diagnostic charms on Mandy.

"I will need you to take a flushing draft to remove all external magic. But be aware that this will negate any birth control charms or protection charms you have on you," Madam Pomfrey replied going to the cabinet and beginning to hand out the drafts.

"Should those of us who have completed the ritual take a flushing draft as well?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, you should but unfortunately, I don't have enough for all of you. I will start brewing more as soon as you leave so come back tonight. I'd suggest that some of you return to your dorms or other bathrooms before taking your draught as I don't have enough toilets to cope with this many students," Madame Pomfrey replied.

"Is there any way to speed this up? We need to get the rituals done before someone comes to claim their betrothed," Susan asked.

"Only if some of you are prepared to miss class to fix the rune circles this morning, so we can start the rituals again as soon as possible." The rune circles were used each night until they were damaged and then fixed by the students who had the knowledge during their free periods ready to be used again each evening. It was sheer luck that when the first one broke the night before they were able to find Hermione and Padma still up and willing to come fix it immediately.

But now that the letters had arrived the muggleborns who were still waiting a second or third turn after their first was unsuccessful were increasingly anxious and several students who hadn't attempted the ritual, not believing that the ministry would actually follow through on forcing students to marry were all clamouring for a chance to complete the ritual as soon as possible as well.

"I know I am willing to help, I've got Runes second this morning. I'm sure professor Babbling would be prepared to overlook my absence to help maintain the circles" Hermione said.

"I have Herbology but I'm sure Madam Sprout would understand if my friends told her I was too upset to attend classes this morning," Lisa Perkins said.

"Let's get these circles up and running again and see if we can get everyone a turn today," Hermione said.

"Aren't we taking a risk doing it during the school day?" Someone asked, Hermione didn't bother looking to see who had spoken.

"It isn't going to stay a secret much longer now that the letters have arrived. Who knows how much time we have before the prospective grooms turn up to claim us," Hermione said. "My appointment to get married is this Saturday morning. I think we should try to be done for everyone before then."

"Does that mean we can tell our families? It doesn't feel right to have such a big secret from them," Su Li asked.

"Not to mention that it gives them another week or two to calm down before we arrive home for the holidays," Kevin Eintwhistle commented.

"Speak for yourself, it will only give Mom and Dad another week to stew about it. I'm not going to tell them until I get home and can introduce them to my husband," Katie said.

"I think we should all hold off on telling anyone until Saturday. By then the ministry will have noticed that we're not turning up for the weddings, and it will give us a couple of days peace to settle into the bonds," Parvati said.

"Okay folks, the charm preventing you from telling anyone will last until I destroy the parchment once all of the bondings are done. It's up to you if you wait until Saturday or not to contact your non magical relatives but we want to avoid parents storming the castle until the weekend," Hermione decided.

-o0o-

All the muggleborns were excused from all their classes that day along with the others who had been maintaining the rune circles, and with the help of Professors Babbling and Sinistra they managed to maintain all the rune circles in spite of heavy use well into the night. Harry couldn't help with the rune work but did his part by visiting the kitchens and delivering food to the rune experts and after a quick chat with Professor Babbling, Madam Pomfrey also came by and delivered each of them a pepper up potion so renew some of the energy they'd expended recharging the repaired rune sequences.

The students waiting their turns had taken over the last classroom in that hallway, unsuitable for a rune circle of its own due to its odd shape, so there was no delay between rituals other than having the circle checked and Harry used his cloak and his map to help students escape detection as they returned to their dorms after the rituals. By dawn everyone who asked had had a chance at the rune circles and nearly all of them had succeeded. Those that failed had waited in the room and made connections with others that failed and tried again either with the same partner or a different friends and finally everyone who had pit their name down was bonded. Harry was almost carrying Hermione back to the Gryffindor common room and finding all the couches full of newly married couples levitated her up the stairs to tuck her into his own bed for the rest of the night, sealing the curtains closed he sat up against the footboard watching over her sleep.

Luckily it was Thursday and they both had the first hour free, so Harry cancelled his alarm charm letting her sleep through breakfast. The need for secrecy was over, and his wife was exhausted having worked all day and night to keep the rune sequences maintained, catching only a couple of fifteen minute catnaps all night. Once the dorm was empty he slipped out, spelling the curtains shut behind him and went to take a shower before calling Dobby to bring them both some breakfast.

"Hermione, you need to wake up, we have class in half an hour," Harry said shaking her shoulder gently.

"What are you doing here? How'd you get up the stairs?" Hermione asked sleepily.

Harry chuckled, "Hermione, wake up properly, you're in my bed not yours, I carried you back here when you fell asleep after fixing the last rune circle. I would have stayed down in the common room with you but the couches were already full of couples who'd just done the ritual," Harry said. "The others have all gone down to breakfast and not come back up yet."

"Oh!" Hermione said looking down at the blanket and blushing.

"It's okay Hermione, I slept up this end," Harry said anxiously. "Dobby has brought us some breakfast and then you can borrow my cloak to get back to your dorm."

"Thank you, Harry," Hermione said sitting up and starting to eat ravenously but with perfect manners. "Do I have time for a shower?"

Rather than answer yes or no, Harry cast a tempus spell for her and said. "We have class at ten." He reminded her, having no idea how long Hermione normally took in the shower.

"I don't think bringing me up here was the best idea. Ron and Neville are both still a bit upset about our marriage, I don't want to rub it in their faces," Hermione said suddenly. "I better get out of here before one of them realises where I spent the night."

"It wasn't like that! It was either bring you up here with me or leave you on the floor in the common room. I couldn't wake you, you were exhausted and all the couches were already taken by couples who you helped last night and I can't get up the stairs to your room. I would've taken you down to Madam Pomfrey if we didn't have to keep what you were doing last night a secret. I have a pepper up potion for you to take now you've eaten. Ron's at breakfast he won't be back until just before classes and Neville is probably down in the greenhouses," Harry rambled nervously.

"It's okay Harry, I was just saying that this probably isn't something we can do again," Hermione said. "We will have to find an alternate place for when we want to be alone. Which might be difficult given the number of newly married couples in the school."

Harry nodded, unsure how much Hermione had thought about what she was saying. It sounded like she wanted to spend some time alone with him as a couple, but he wouldn't get his hopes up.

"Did we do it?" Hermione asked suddenly. "Did everybody succeed?"

"Yeah you did, Hermione. You did it. The last couple finished their ritual just after four o'clock this morning."

"Even Lisa Perkins?" Hermione asked. The sixth year had been hysterical after her third failure just after midnight.

"Yeah, on her fifth attempt, though I'll bet the ministry is going to object to that one. She married Mandy Brocklehurst, apparently they've been secretly dating for months," Harry said grinning.

"Oh Merlin! No wonder it didn't work with any of her male friends ad she was so traumatised by the attempts. I should have guessed that was the problem. I didn't think the ritual would work for a same sex couple though, particularly without penetrative sex," Hermione said.

"Can they have children?" Harry asked. "Is there a potion or spell that allows two women to make a baby?"

"I don't know, I'm not interested in girls so I've never looked into it. Perhaps some form of Polyjuice Potion," Hermione replied. "If they can't they might be in serious trouble with the ministry because of the law."

"Oh Merlin. I'm going to shave my head. Do you know a permanent hair removal charm?" Harry asked panicked.

"Yes of course I do, but you're not going to shave your head. This society exists back in the last century. Babies born out of wedlock have no legal claim on the father, and the mother is shamed and outcast. Single mothers find it incredibly difficult to get work in the magical world. Nobody would fall pregnant like that deliberately," Hermione said. "Particularly since you are irrevocably married and everyone would know that the baby couldn't have been conceived naturally due to the vows of fidelity in the ritual, therefore even if they could prove the baby was genetically yours unless they can prove you willingly donated the material for conception in some way other than sex, they would still have no claim on you and in fact no claim to custody of your child if you wanted to contest it."

"Okay," Harry replied uncertainly. "I still wouldn't want someone stealing hair or something from me to make a baby."

"They wouldn't use you, as much as you have some crazy fangirls, for something like this your fame would protect you. A sensible person would want to use someone who isn't able to cause a public outcry if they're caught," Hermione said reassuringly.

"And how many witches have you met that you would call sensible? Especially when it comes to me?" he asked cynically.

Hermione sighed and silently agreed with him, he could see it in her face.

"Yeah," he said tiredly. "You better get going if you don't want to be late for class."

He held out his cloak and she disappeared under it.

"See you at breakfast," Harry said as the door opened and closed seemingly by itself.

A/N: Thank you to caughtinblackseyes, The Wandmaker, Millie072, mwinter1, Shetan20, Tyler'sPrincess, katmom, animeromance1972, BMS, Ghostisreading, roon0, jkarr, Rori Potter, mikanMD, Jostanos, Firehedgehog, .Wonderland.8510 and all those who followed and favourited this story for your support.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"You've all done an absolutely wonderful job, making the circles and keeping them operational through so many rituals and I expect you've all learned a great deal about rune chaining and maintaining and repairing runic sequences which will serve you well in any future rune projects you undertake. I would give you all house points but that would defeat the secrecy of the whole operation," Bathsheba Babbling said. "I would recommend any of you for a runes, ritual, or warding apprenticeship. If that's not where your future plans lie you can all count on me for a good reference for whatever career you want when the time comes."

"It won't matter anymore, will it?" Padma asked. As a foreign born pureblood she was one of the eldest in their year turning seventeen in late October and she wasn't sure whether her magical heritage would be recognised in Britain or if the decree would apply to her and was worried that she and her sister would be matched. The fact that her country traditionally practiced arranged marriage was one of the reasons her father had brought their family to England when his business between Britain and India could just as easily been managed from their home town just south of Mumbai.

She'd been horrified when the law came out and more than happy to help with the reseach and to use her knowledge of ritual magic to help with the rune circles. She had been relieved when the ritual worked for her the first time with her long term boyfriend Terry Boot, and for her sister Parvati with Seamus Finnegan.

"The ministry won't be able to undo the rituals or annul the marriages, and it's extremely impractical to even try to imprison everyone who participated in the rituals, but they could still try to prosecute the ringleaders if they identify them, so it's not a good idea to have any record of who was involved in organising the whole process. So, I know it's difficult to destroy work you've put so much time and effort into, but I need you to get rid of all your notes and anything that could be used against you or anyone else if they investigate, even if you think that it's well hidden it will be at risk if they bring in cursebreakers or unspeakables to investigate. I've set the house elves to remove the rune rings you used and give those classrooms an extra good clean to remove all magical residues," Bathsheba said seriously. "I would also seriously consider whether it is possible to spell everyone who knows to forget who organised it."

"Could we use the Fidelius Charm to hide the secret?" Hermione asked.

"It would take quite a lot of power but yes possibly. I'll talk to Filius and Minerva, they're the only two who are likely to be able to do it, well able and willing," Bathsheba replied thoughtfully.

"I have a question. Can you tell me what charms are on this letter?" Hermione asked.

"We didn't manage to identify them all but I have a few new revealing charms I looked up this morning," Bathsheba replied, careful not to touch the parchment as she cast.

"This is your official ministry notice of your match?" she asked.

"Yes and I must say that I'm glad I didn't wait. I cannot believe we could be magically compatible. He's thicker than Crabbe and Goyle put together!" Hermione declared.

"Making you one of the only witches they could possibly procreate with that would provide them with children smart enough to pass any OWLs," Daphne snarked. "It might make a lousy miserable marriage for you but it would also save the house of Higgs."

Hermione frowned, "That tells us something about the true motivations of those involved in allocating the matches, doesn't it?" she asked unhappily.

"There's a portkey charm which I have deactivated, a compulsion charm for you to be holding the letter when it activates to take you to the ministry for your wedding on the time and date stated, a chastity charm, so you don't pre-empt the wedding night, but it's easily removed by a flushing draught if you know it's affecting you and why they even bothered is beyond me, and a dark fertility curse. It's dark because it negates all contraceptive spells and potions for at least the next three months and takes away your choices. Unfortunately it will not have been negated by the flushing draught. I'm afraid that if you have touched this, any sexual relations in the next three months will lead almost certainly to conception," she warned. "It's not directed at you specifically or the first person to touch the letter, everyone who touched this letter will be affected. I assume all the others will be spelled the same.

"What about muggle birth control?" Justin Finch-Fletchley asked.

"I'm not sure dear, I don't know enough about it," Bathsheba admitted.

"Well it might be able to negate the pill but it couldn't possibly prevent a condom from working," Hermione said practically. "We will have to ask someone to send us a crate of them."

"Yeah no! That's not something I could ask Mummy or Father," Justin said turning scarlet.

"Well yes. I guess that isn't something you could do in a letter. "Hey Mum, I got married and I need a couple of thousand condoms to share with my husband and friends until they go home for Christmas and can buy their own." Dean agreed.

"We are going to need them though, does anyone have a brother or older friend they could ask?" Hermione asked.

"Katie Bell's two best friends graduated last year, wasn't one of them muggleborn," Parvati suggested.

"Angelina has left the country, Katie could ask Alicia, except she married one of the Weasley twins. I don't think any of the boys will want to put a condom they've had access to anywhere near their penis," Hermione replied.

Seeing all the boys shudder agreement made the rest of the girls laugh but they agreed.

"Harry has a way out of the castle, he could floo from Hogsmeade to London and go and buy out a couple of pharmacies," Hermione suggested. "I'll collect the money, Muggle pounds will be better if you have them or he will need to take to Gringotts and exchange them so that will cost a little more, and risk attracting attention."

"Back to the letter. Will it still force Hermione to go to the ministry for the bonding ceremony?" Padma asked.

"I don't know. The letter itself is the portkey but while I believe I have deactivated it I couldn't remove it completely. Can you throw it into the fire Miss Granger?" Bathsheba asked.

"What if they have a way of tracking the portkey and know the letter has been destroyed?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"I don't think that is possible. Throw the letter into the fire Miss Granger," Bathsheba ordered firmly.

Hermione managed to do it but she was breathing hard and sweating before she let the letter go.

"That was surprisingly difficult," she admitted shaking.

"Perhaps the best thing to do would be to have those that received a letter ask their friends to destroy the letter for them or to keep an eye on you that day and stun them if you try to touch it, or better yet all of you should try to destroy as many of your friends' letters as possible without waiting to be asked by the letter's recipient who may not be able to ask," Bathsheba replied. "You also need to go to Madam Pomfrey and ask if she's able to remove the fertility curse. She's been looking into it all morning so hopefully she will find something. Please talk to all the others who have opened their letters to do the same. It would be better for those who haven't opened them to throw them in the fire unopened but with curiosity being what it is I expect most letters have been opened by now."

The students in the room all looked sheepish.

"Go and eat some lunch and then see Madam Pomfrey and for heaven sakes burn as many of those letters as you can, unopened if possible, grab and burn each other's if you have to," Bathsheba ordered, dismissing them.

Harry was waiting outside the classroom with a basket of sandwiches.

"Oh, you planned a picnic! That was very sweet Harry but I needed to talk with Professor Babbling about the letters, and I need to talk to everyone who opened one of them and warn them," Hermione said apologetically.

"I guessed that when most of the more traditional purebloods from your class all turned up and none of you. So, I brought lunch for you all, you still need to eat and there's a member from each house here so it will be easy enough to pass on the message after lunch. I was just about to knock on the door and deliver it when you came out," Harry said. Hearing that they went back into the classroom and Harry opened the basket and passed around sandwiches and glasses of pumpkin juice spelled not to spill.

"Thanks Harry," Padma said.

"There is a dark fertility curse on the letter. You touched it so you have been affected. It will negate every known form of magical birth control," Professor Babbling said.

"We were hoping that you could go and buy condoms if people give you muggle money for them," Hermione said. "You and the twins have an uncanny way of getting out of the castle."

"Sure, but I don't know how many people bring muggle money to Hogwarts, there's nowhere to spend it here," Harry said.

"We don't think you should go to Gringotts to exchange money until after the ministry find out about the bondings," Hermione replied.

Harry nodded. "It's no hassle to make a second trip."

-o0o-

They hadn't been able to get to many letters before the recipients had opened them but the majority of students while not able to put the letters into the fire, were able to give the letters to their new spouses when asked and the spouse then had no difficulty destroying their bonded's portkey letters even if they couldn't destroy their own.

Madam Pomfrey wasn't able to totally remove the fertility curse but once the students knew about it most of them were prepared to wait it out rather than have a child immediately. Even if the 'Daily Prophet' had reported that the law said they only had a year to produce a child Madam Pomfrey assured them that being with child in twelve months' time would meet the requirements of the law well enough, they could hardly imprison pregnant witches for not producing a child quickly enough. Of course, there were a few unlucky girls who didn't get the message about the curse before being intimate with their partners after opening their letter. Abortion was illegal in the wizarding world as the birth rate was low and every child was needed to maintain their population so the pregnant newly married witches were given calming draughts and put to bed as Madam Pomfrey called Minerva McGonagall to discuss a way to hold separate pregnancy safe classes for these witches so they didn't have to drop out of school due to the ministry's interference in their lives.

-o0o-

Harry snuck through the tunnel to the basement of Honeyduke's after classes that night with his pockets full of pounds. He was surprised how many students had muggle money on them but Dean said that his mother normally took him Christmas shopping on the way home from the train.

He used his cloak to sneak out of Honeyduke's and into the Three Broomsticks. He whisked off his cloak and floo'd through to the Leaky Cauldron and keeping his head down, crossed the pub and headed out into muggle London. It didn't take him long to find a chemist shop but once confronted with the array of different condoms he hesitated unsure of what to get. Comparing prices he quickly discounted the novelty condoms, glow in the dark, flavoured, and the cheapest brand, he didn't want to be responsible for buying inferior quality and having his friends fall pregnant because they broke. He was tempted to get the ones with the spermicide but they were quite expensive, and one of the other brands came in a bulk pack making them cheaper. Quickly calculating he picked up all five bulk packs and nearly died of embarrassment at the comments the woman at the cash register made. Thankfully the chemist bag was opaque and he was able to get them back to Hogwarts without anyone else seeing his purchases and Hermione helped distribute them to everyone along with notes telling each person who they owed a galleon to for them.

-o0o-

Surprisingly the Hogwarts students had been able to keep the secret, partly because after Ginny tried to throw a tantrum in the great hall about Harry and Hermione's marriage, those who were asked to bond and refused like Ginny and those whose bonds had failed to form and hadn't kept trying again until they succeeded, like Ron and Neville were spelled to secrecy. And throughout the endeavour every effort was made to identify which purebloods were most likely to object or to inform the ministry and then every effort was made to keep all rumours about the ritual away from them. Ably helped by several of the professors assigning detentions instead of point losses to those students for any infractions of behaviour in spite of Snape's protests.

The students being kept in the dark were of course aware of the early outcry when the law was first published and the search for a way around the ritual but in their belief of their own superiority it didn't even concern them. Of course, the muggleborns wouldn't manage to find a loophole ion a law drafted by the pureblood lords of the Wizengamot. When they noticed the researchers stopped meeting in the library they just assumed they'd come to the same conclusion and given up. None of them bothered to inform their parents about any of it.

And after the rituals, when they noticed many new couples around the school and the amount of gossip of who'd been caught in compromising positions in empty classrooms and broom closets seemed to explode they all just thought it was a last ditch attempt to find someone who loved them and if they thought of it at all the pureblood bigots were amused by how pathetic they thought it was, again nothing worth mentioning in their letters home, which were filled with more important things like changes in the hierarchy in Slytherin and titbits and dirt about the professors and their classmates, anything to hopefully help their parents gain social or political power to take advantage of the vacuum that had been left in the wake of the Dark Lord's most recent demise.

-o0o-

The ministry sanctioned weddings involving Hogwarts students were scheduled to be held starting on Saturday, partly to appease Dumbledore because the students wouldn't be missing classes for the ceremonies and partly in the hope that the majority of the weddings could occur before he realised how many of his students were involved. Especially as several of the senior partners had indicated that their new spouses would not be continuing their formal education after the marriage, and others had indicated that they would allow them to continue to attend during the week so long as they were allowed to return home every weekend until they became pregnant and were therefore expelled hoping their new wives would then blame Hogwarts and Dumbledore for denying them the education they'd wanted. The senior classes would be decimated but as a side effect it would allow the students from the old pureblood families to excel in the class placings, hopefully stopping their protests about the quality of education at Hogwarts, or the quality of the testing process that let the muggleborns outshine the more worthy students.

Fudge decided not to officiate the marriages himself, to appear to distance himself from the matching process in the eyes of the brides (no need to upset that many future voters and he was stupid enough that he didn't realise that the muggleborns would still blame him and his leadership for this), instead he had a spell caster to perform the ceremony and two Aurors to keep the peace in case anyone objected or tried to refuse the marriages, set up in a small room off the main entryway.

There was no decoration or romantic trappings in the room and the ceremony itself was as simple as possible, more of a business transaction than an actual wedding but perhaps that was fitting since most of the brides and grooms would meet for the first time that day.

They'd scheduled marriages every quarter hour, the spells themselves would only take a moment to cast and the minor partner in the marriage did not have to participate in the ceremony in any way other than being present which the portkey in the letter would take care of whether the 'bride' was willing or not.

Terrence Higgs was the first groom of the day and he waited anxiously for his bride to appear. He was looking forward to showing the mudblood that intelligence didn't count for much in this world and in fact he thought she was fifth year and so without returning to school to even sit her OWLS she wouldn't even be legally able to use her wand unsupervised. Still it would be fun to teach her her place in this society. Her place at his feet, in his bed or where ever else he wanted her. She wasn't bad looking for a mudblood. Not to mention that he was taking her away from Potter. He didn't believe for a moment that they were just friends. No she was probably servicing both Potter and the youngest Weasley boy as well as doing both their homework, there was no other reason the two would hang around with a mudblood. Maybe Potter would even flunk out of school without her help. He was so busy dreaming about what he was going to do to her that he failed to realise that she should have arrived by now.

The spell castor and the Aurors however, were aware of the passing time and looking at each other anxiously wondering what had gone wrong, particularly when the second bridegroom arrived.

"Hey Terrence, where's your bride? Did you send her home already?" Caradoc Dearborn, a friend of his grandfather asked.

"She hasn't arrived yet," Terrence replied.

"Well I hope you teach her to be more punctual in future," Caradoc said. "My bride better not keep me waiting or she will learn to fear my displeasure."

Even Terrence cringed at the idea of a school aged girl married to such an old man, even if she was a muggleborn. They waited but this second bride failed to appear as well.

"Perhaps there was something wrong with the portkeys," one of the Auror's suggested.

"Nonsense! I cast the spells myself," the marriage officiator retorted, highly insulted.

"Could they have decided not to come?" the second Auror asked.

"They'd be facing three months in Azkaban if they have. Would the letters still have arrived even if the recipients weren't holding them?" the first Auror asked.

"No, the portkeys on the letters will activate as soon as they are touched after their appointment time, but the compulsion spells should have ensured that they had them on their person and touched them frequently," the marriage officiator said.

"So, they'd still be brought even if they didn't agree to the marriage?" the Auror asked uncertainly.

"Of course, these marriages have been ordered by the minister himself. Who would disagree. Besides the law states quite clearly that they have to marry or they'll be sent to Azkaban for three months before being rematched. I doubt anyone would choose that over marriage," the spell castor replied.

"I don't know about you but if my sister got a letter demanding she show up and marry someone old enough to be her grandfather she'd be more likely to put it in the fire than hang on to it," the first Auror said.

"The charms would not let her destroy the letter," the spell castor replied, huffily.

"The Wizengamot said that the participants would be paired for compatibility. How can a schoolgirl's most compatible match be a man nearly one hundred years older than she is?" the second Auror asked.

"Magical compatibility has nothing to do with age," the spell castor replied sharply. In truth he did feel slightly uneasy about the union and the fact that the compatibility actually wasn't that high, it was merely the highest possible from among those purebloods who'd volunteered for an arranged marriage to a school aged witch and not paid extra to be paired with a particular witch.

"But there's a lot more to a successful marriage than magical compatibility. We're talking about a sixteen year old girl, they're more interested in appearance and what they have in common with their boyfriends," the first Auror said. "The poor girl is not going to be pleased with this match."

"Not to mention that he's nearly 120 years old, did anyone bother to confirm he's capable of fathering a child before matching up with a teenager?" the second Auror asked.

"That's irrelevant, the little mudblood should be grateful for the chance to marry into a pureblood family," Caradoc said repressively.

"That's the funny thing about blood purity, it's only the purebloods that think it matters," the Auror replied. "In fact, I'd bet my whole week's paycheck that if the girl was given the choice between marrying you and marrying a muggle boy her own age, she'd pick the muggle."

"That would defeat the purpose of the marriage law," the spell castor replied.

"Most seventeen year olds wouldn't care," the Auror replied.

Caradoc drew his wand and looked like he was about to attack the auror who'd been speaking when the other disarmed him and cuffed him.

"You don't want to attack an Auror. Go home now and if your bride turns up we'll send you a message. You too Higgs, the next couple are due any minute," the second Auror said leading them both to the Floo's in the entrance hall. He uncuffed Caradoc and almost forced him into the Floo.

The third groom showed up and also was left waiting impatiently for his fifteen minute appointment before being sent home by the Aurors but the forth groom made such a fuss that the Aurors called for backup and escorted him to cool off in the holding cells for a couple of hours.

When the third and then the fourth 'bride' also failed to appear one of the Aurors was sent to inform the minister. A watch was kept but none of that day's 'brides' appeared. The following day was the same but on the third day when they began the weddings of Hogwarts graduates it was a different story with many of the 'brides' arriving promptly though many of them were surprised to find themselves there.

There was still confusion and outrage among the grooms as many of the brides claimed that the contract was invalid as they'd already married before receiving their allocated matches. Diagnostic spells quickly confirmed that the witches and wizards were in fact already married and in many cases already expecting a child and the Aurors spent most of the day trying to calm down the jilted bridegrooms as the ministry promised them that they would be rematched as quickly as possible.

"They've already matched every available muggleborn between seventeen and sixty and all the unmarried halfbloods under sixty who've graduated Hogwarts. Where are they going to get the witches to rematch all these purebloods?" one Auror asked.

"They'll match up the halfbloods and sixteen year olds at Hogwarts I'd wager," the other Auror replied, sighing. "Those that thought they were safe from the law for another year so haven't done anything to get out of it."

"My sister is one of those sixteen year olds," the first Auror whispered in horror.

"You'll be writing to her tonight then, warning her to tell her friends too," the other replied quietly. The muggleborns at Hogwarts found a way to get out of coming. The sixteen year olds deserve a chance at that too."

"Unless they only managed to burn the letters so they didn't arrive. They could all be arrested or forced to marry in a day or too," the first Auror replied.

Unfortunately, there were those who hadn't taken the marriage law seriously enough, or who had thought that simply giving up using magic and moving into the muggle world and refusing to turn up to the appointments would be enough. The letters had still found them and without friends who knew to throw the letters into the fire like the Hogwarts students had, the compulsions on the letters still works and they found themselves at the ministry at the appointed time, being unwillingly married off to their chosen bride grooms whether they intended to come or not. Of course, in this case 'bride' referred to the submissive (less pureblood) partner in the marriage not necessarily to the female. It was just lucky for the remaining muggleborns that the most abusive purebloods except those that wanted a particular school rival wanted younger, less trained spouses .

Those who moved to nearby countries also received their letters and were affected by the spells cast on it but because the celebrant had only cast national level portkeys on the letters they did not successfully activate to bring them to the weddings though there were a few injuries among witches and wizards in France from the partial activations.

-o0o-

Dear Favourite Uncle and my new Aunt

Congratulations on your wedding. I wish you both great joy and a prosperous marriage.

As to your advice, all I can say is mischief managed. Please don't worry about Hermione and I, things have settled well. Sorry we couldn't accept your help but she couldn't wait until the summer.

My best friend is brilliant you know, she solved the problem for all the seventh years that wanted her help. I would expect some fireworks once those that think they have the right to make those decisions find out that their plans are now obsolete but there's nothing they can do to undo it.

Your Cubs.

Remus opened his mail Sunday morning.

"Harry is married!" he exclaimed surprised.

"Harry and Ginny? How? Molly will be upset they didn't wait until summer to have a big wedding but I can understand why he didn't want to wait if it's because of the ministry though he should be safe until he turns seventeen. Please tell me it's not because he knocked her up," Tonks said surprised.

"I think he married Hermione. She was seventeen this September. His letter was vague about the details. No doubt he doesn't want it to get out yet," Remus replied reading it over again.

Tonks took the letter and read it through. "Vague is an understatement. I wouldn't know what it meant."

"I think that was the point. After last year he is always very careful what he puts in his letters in case they're intercepted. I advised him in my last letter to get married before his birthday this summer," Remus replied.

"Yes that makes sense but I thought Hermione and Ron were a couple, and Harry was with Ginny," Tonks said.

"They seemed to be heading that way over the summer but you know how quickly relationships can change at that age," Remus agreed. "But I think Harry and Hermione are well suited. They certainly care about each other."

A/N: Thank you to caughtinblackseyes, .Wonderland.8510, J.F.C, BMS, Tyler'sPrincess, katmom, mwinter1, mother oracle, Jostanos, BadWolfJiggy, roon0, Millie072, jkarr, starboy454, Melikalilly, Firehedgehog, Rori Potter, Lexarius, Rainbow2007, mikanMD and all those who followed or favourited for your support.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

The students involved in the ritual bondings watched anxiously as the minister arrived at Hogwarts on Monday at noon, accompanied by a large Auror contingent, ready to arrest the 'brides' who had failed to attend their weddings over the weekend unless they immediately agreed to accompany them to the ministry to be married to their ministry chosen matches. The purebloods who knew nothing about the bondings or the fact that their classmates had been due to get married this past weekend, looked on curiously wondering what had brought the minister and his entourage to Hogwarts, some of them hoping to gain information that would benefit their parents or the Dark Lord.

"What can I do for you today Cornelius?" Albus asked genially, though those who knew him well could see a hard look in his eyes.

"I've come to arrest those who broke the new marriage law by not turning up for their weddings yesterday and the day before," Cornelius Fudge replied slightly defensively. Even though he had the law on his side he knew Albus could be fiercely protective of the school and its students sometimes when it came to the ministry of magic, and he didn't was to face his anger.

"These are school children, they're not old enough to marry," Albus replied frowning.

"According to the law the legal age to marry is sixteen, we've been extremely generous by not matching up anyone under the age of seventeen so far. They've been paired with their magical compatible matches. The law was clear, agree to the match chosen for them or they would be arrested. I'm being merciful in giving the recalcitrant brides a second chance to attend their weddings before sending them to Azkaban, since I'm generously assuming that it was the standard Hogwarts wards that prevented their attendance, but I can and will change my mind if you continue to oppose me. Or I could have you arrested for altering the wards specifically to prevent ministry approved portkeys to work in the castle."

Albus looked over the crowd of eagerly watching students, several of whom looked smug or amused, others who looked guilty, worried or frightened.

"Everyone not affected by these marriage laws please head to class," he ordered, hoping to reduce the spectacle.

Harry and many of the other partners stayed seated and seeing that the other people who had married someone who'd receive a letter sat back down as well. Seeing how many of the professors who had also remained in their seats, Dumbledore sighed and changed his orders.

"Classes are cancelled for the afternoon. Given how many professors and prefects seem to be involved can the remaining older students supervise the younger," he declared, causing cheering among those not affected by the match notification letters.

"There aren't that many of you," Cornelius protested. "Potter, I know we didn't send you a letter."

It wasn't from lack of trying on the minister's part, he'd wanted the brat married off to someone who would force him to support his ministry, but the people who he'd put in charge had refused to make an exception to have him matched up a year early.

"No but you sent one to my wife so this does affect me somewhat," Harry replied calmly. "Though I don't see how or why you thought you were going to marry Hermione off to someone else when she was already married to me."

Hermione signalled to the others to keep quiet and let Harry speak. Dumbledore would protect Harry from being arrested but she wasn't so sure about the rest of them.

"She is breaking the law," Fudge declared. "Arrest her."

"We were already married when Hermione received the letter from the ministry informing her of her match and wedding appointment. Neither of us were breaking the law when we performed the marriage ritual. Unfortunately for Mr Higgs, the ritual we used doesn't allow for annulment, divorce or bigamy. Hermione is my wife for eternity, even my death will not free her to marry again," Harry replied.

"He's lying!" Fudge declared.

Minerva walked over and cast a spell towards Harry and Hermione and they both displayed a bright gold aura linked to each other.

"They are bonded, permanently bonded," she said. "And from the colour of the bond they're not lying about the fidelity part of the bond either."

Albus frowned, but that reaction passed without anyone other than Hermione noticing as Fudge threw a monumental tantrum. "Arrest them both," he yelled.

"On what grounds?" one of the Aurors asked. "You haven't proved that they've broken the law. They are right that they were allowed to legally bond before receiving their match notification letter."

"Then you will have to arrest us too" Katie Bell said standing holding her husband's hand.

Her husband Eddie Carmichael, looked anxious but nodded his agreement once she'd glared at him.

"And us," Susan Bones said, standing and dragging her husband, Ernie MacMillan, up with her.

More and more couples stood up asking to be arrested as well.

The Aurors stepped back, unwilling to arrest their boss' niece and then realising the impossibility of arresting the fifty or so students standing in front of them.

"We cannot arrest so many, the holding cells won't hold them," Auror Dawlish said.

"There are actually a lot more of us who got married. You only asked for those who received a match notification to remain. There are another dozen or so couples that bonded to avoid a match in future," Hermione said.

"Then send them to Azkaban," Fudge roared.

"There would be a massive public outcry. The backlash against the ministry would be huge. This law was passed by the Wizengamot to increase our population. Arresting so many young newly married couples of childbearing age counteracts that stated purpose," Auror Dawlish protested. "And these students aren't all muggleborn, some of them have relatives on the Wizengamot."

Kingsley Shacklebolt stepped forward brandishing his magic suppression cuffs and snapped them onto Cornelius Fudge's arms. "Cornelius Fudge, you are under arrest for child endangerment," he said with satisfaction.

"What! I'm the minister of magic. I'll have your job for this," Fudge yelled. "I insist you arrest everybody involved in trying to evade the marriages that were arranged for them."

"Surely Minister, you read the law in its entirety before you reinstated it," Tracy Davis asked, sneering at the Minister for Magic.

"Yes of course I did," Minister Fudge replied.

"Then you will recall that the matching process was only relevant to those who weren't already married," Daphne said drolly.

"You weren't married when the matches were organised. You're too young to be married," Minister Fudge protested.

"We started looking for a way to avoid being matched with strangers or partners not of our choosing the day the law was announced in the Daily Prophet, well before the matching process started," Hermione stated.

"And the way we found is perfectly legal. We checked," the seventh year who already had an apprenticeship to study magical law added.

"You will also recall that the law increased the penalties for any and all forms of child abuse, child endangerment or any actions that may lead to miscarriage," Susan Bones reminded him.

"You ordered your Aurors to send underage witches and wizards to Azkaban," Albus said, "The witches and wizards sent matches may all be seventeen but not all of their spouses are. There are more than half a dozen highly respected adults here who witnessed the attempt. As Auror Dawlish pointed out to you, the marriage law was designed to halt the decline in our population, sending children to jail for getting married to spouses of their own choosing, makes a mockery of the spirit of the new law. Us old people of the Wizengamot made a very understandable mistake when we voted in that law. We forgot what it was like to be young and in love and overlooked young peoples need to assert their independence and make their own choices. As soon as they heard rumours that this law was going to affect them they planned a way around it. And I must say I'm incredibly proud of the way they all worked together to achieve the results."

"One thing your stupid marriage law has done is to unite the four houses of Hogwarts more than they've ever been united before. Unfortunately for you, they are currently united against you personally, the ministry and the Wizengamot," Bathsheba Babbling said firmly. "Anyone attempting to arrest these students will have to arrest me too because I knew what they were doing and offered my support and assistance."

"I did too. You'll have to arrest me too," Madam Pomfrey replied.

Madam Sprout stood up. "Arrest me as well. I had strong suspicions what was going on and I helped make sure that the ministry visitors over the last few months and the wizengamot's little spies, didn't notice and interfere."

"You will need to arrest me too. To my shame I admit I offered no help with the ritual but I knew they were attempting to find a way around the law and I gave them extra time to research and access to the restricted section. I support these young people wholeheartedly in their right to choose their own husbands and wives, and I will argue that the law should be repealed or altered to allow the participants choice," Minerva McGonagall said firmly.

"The books containing the ritual, came from my library," Madam Pince stood as well.

Professor Charity Burbage stood as well. "I taught the students that arranged marriages went out of favour in the muggle world more than a century ago that child marriages are highly frowned upon and by the muggle authorities and the forced marriage of a seventeen year old would be considered illegal. That in their world, what you were trying to do to these students would be a crime," she said.

In fact, it was her muggleborn students who had told her that, she just didn't contradict them and allowed the spokesperson to speak up about it in all her classes.

"Filius Flitwick stood. "I was also involved in keeping the secret but if you attempt to arrest me I will call on my brethren for sanctuary. I warn you now that it could lead to another goblin rebellion." He was exaggerating, his brethren wouldn't make war for him who was only a part goblin but the ministry didn't know that.

Professor McGonagall spoke up. "The school will have to be closed if you arrest three out of the four heads of house and all these other professors," she declared. "Please give us time to contact the parents and have them collect the younger students. There won't be enough adults in the castle left for adequate supervision of underage students."

"Aurors, please send for Madam Bones, I'm afraid that Cornelius is partially correct. None of you do have the authority to arrest the sitting Minister, however, as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, I do. The charges made by Auror Shacklebolt are valid and I'm happy to order the arrest or Cornelius Fudge, but it would be better for everybody if the head of the DMLE is here to oversee the proceedings and none of you can be accused of overstepping your authority," Albus said. "There will be no arrests here today except for you Cornelius Fudge, neither the students who have married nor those who helped them find the way have broken any laws. There was no reason for them not to marry before they received the notification letters of their matches."

"But… but…" Cornelius objected. He could hardly tell them that they had to go through with the marriages he had arranged because he'd already spent the money he'd accepted from pureblood wizards who'd wanted to marry a young second or third wife.

"These students are married. They used a bonding ritual vowing lifelong fidelity to each other that cannot be undone no matter what you want from them. Whether or not you accept this makes no difference," Bathsheba Babbling said.

"I will arrange married housing for any couple who wishes it," Albus decreed. "Please see your heads of house to inform them of your wishes."

"For those of you who do not accept married housing please be aware that all students married or not are expected to abide by the Hogwarts code of conduct outside the married quarters," Minerva said sternly. "We have our younger students to think of. Anyone found fornicating in a broom closet dorm room or empty classroom will earn themselves a week's detention. Those caught in more public places in the castle will be penalised more severely. Those of you who wish may leave but I would like several of you to be on hand either here or in your common rooms when the Head of the DMLE arrives, in case she wishes to speak with you."

Most of the couples chose to stay, too anxious to hear about what was going to happen or wanting to avoid interrogation from their housemates while they didn't have all the answers. Cornelius kept yelling to be released, growing more and more furious at being ignored until one of the Aurors silenced him from behind.

Madam Bones the head of the DMLE arrived with another complement of Aurors. She was met at the front gate by Senior Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt who explained the whole situation. How the minister had come to Hogwarts accompanied by Kingsley and the Aurors who formed his personal security to what he originally believed was to interview those who had not turned up to their ministry organised weddings over the weekend. The students involved claimed to be already married and diagnostic spells confirmed marriage bonds making them exempt from the new marriage law and Fudge had then ordered all the 'brides', their new spouses and those who helped with the marriage spells to be arrested. He's insisting that the marriages the 'brides' are currently in be declared void even though the professors informed him that the fidelity vows the students made cannot be set aside like that."

"How many?" Amelia asked sighing. She did not approve of the way the marriage law was being implemented but had been reluctantly convinced of its necessity, though she felt vaguely ashamed to admit she might have felt differently and argued against it more if her niece was one of those affected.

"At least sixty two students, thirty one new married couples and in addition to that more than half the professors claimed to be involved in helping with the rituals and keeping it secret. The headmaster isn't saying much but the deputy headmistress pointed out that if we arrest all of the staff involved we will have to close the school and provide replacement supervisors until the younger students can be collected," Kingsley reported.

"We couldn't arrest that many students and staff. There'd be an outcry,"

"Minister Fudge acknowledged we didn't have room in the ministry holding cells for them all and demanded they be sent to Azkaban to await trial. At least a third of the students involved are underage so I arrested him for child endangerment. Chief Warlock Dumbledore confirmed the arrest but suggested we call you to help with the chain of command, since Fudge is currently the minister for magic."

"Merlin, what a nightmare," Amelia exclaimed.

"It's worse than that. I've spoken with the junior Aurors that were assigned as security for the wedding spell castor over the weekend and they have the impression that the matchups were influenced by money and bribes rather than magical compatibility. The majority of 'grooms' were not people they'd be content letting an underage witch in their family marry without a fight," Kingsley said. "They also said that a lot of the of age witches that were supposed to be married today had turned up already married, if we arrest this lot we will have to arrest them too. We haven't informed the minister of those yet. He was more interested in finding out why none of the Hogwarts students turned up for their weddings."

"Merlins Saggy Balls! Let's get in there and sort this out before we have a mutiny on our hands," Amelia said determinedly marching towards the castle.

"I think you might be too late for that," Kingsley said. "Sixty married students and half the professors just insisted that they be arrested too if the Aurors tried to arrest a single student."

Amelia barely refrained from groaning aloud.

Amelia's entry seemed to increase the arguments going on. As per protocol she turned to the minister and listened to Cornelius' demand for Amelia to remove the magical suppression cuffs Shacklebolt had put on him and arrest the students and the people that assisted them and have them thrown in Azkaban.

"Surely some of these students are underage," Amelia protested as mildly as she could.

"They've broken the law and refused the matches they were allocated. They need to be taught to respect their betters, end their defiance and have all these nonsense bindings voided so they can marry the partners chosen for them. They'll stay in Azkaban until they agree!" Cornelius declared.

Amelia looked at the Aurors, half of whom were holding their wands pointed at the minister for magic.

"How many of you are underage? Raise your hands," she asked. She took a quick count. "And how many of you are possibly already expecting a child?"

Every married witch in the room raised their hands and several of their husbands turned pale with fright.

"Relax! It's not likely but it is possible," Hermione whispered to Harry who was looking at her with concern.

"Cornelius Fudge you are under arrest for 26 counts of child endangerment, and 31 counts of attempted endangering a pregnancy and I'm not sure how many counts of interfering with the succession of an ancient and/or noble house. You are immediately removed from all official posts and will stand trial within the next thirty days," Amelia declared.

"You can't do this he's the minister of magic!" Dolores Umbridge shrieked.

"Former Minister for Magic, he was temporarily relieved of his position as soon as he was arrested on felony charges" Albus corrected.

Amelia turned to Kingsley. "Take him straight to Azkaban, he has too much of a following to guarantee his continued incarceration inside the ministry. Inform Robbards once you're done."

"There were no laws broken here, the students completed the marriage rituals before they got the notifications that they were paired with another, and the ritual they used vows eternal fidelity. There is no known counter-ritual to release them from their vows. The marriages are valid and permanent," Bathsheba Babbling stated, stretching the truth about when the bonding rituals occurred but that was something nobody would be able to prove without good cause to question any of them under veritaserum.

"Did you perform the rituals for them?" Amelia asked.

"No they used a runic ritual that does not require a third party bonder," Bathsheba replied. "I did check the runes to ensure they weren't going to kill themselves and blow up half the castle in the attempt."

"But you didn't try to stop them?" Amelia clarified.

"Why would I? They were not breaking the law at the time and most of the students involved were terrified they'd be matched up to pureblood bigots who would treat them terribly. Before they found the ritual, I had heard that many of the girls and muggleborns were planning to leave Britain entirely. Or to cast the spell to destroy their magical core. The prefects even came across a group of friends discussing a suicide pact. By comparison the ritual gave the students the best chance at a happy and normal life and the marriages they chose will solve the population issue just as thoroughly as the pairings chosen by the minister. I felt that assisting them was in my student's and our country's best interests."

"Auror Dawlish go to St Mungos and fetch me a healer experienced in diagnosing magical bonds," Amelia ordered. "Not that I don't believe you but the Wizengamot will require independent verification," she said to the Runes professor, resident mediwitch Pomfrey and the assembled newlyweds.

"Perhaps while we wait you will release the professors so classes may resume for those not affected," Albus suggested.

"Certainly, if Professor Babbling and Madam Pomfrey would remain," Amelia agreed.

Hermione pulled her books out of her bag and began studying, Harry and several other students, including all of the seventh years followed suit, allowing Amelia to have a quiet word with Bathsheba and Poppy who confirmed the legality, validity and permanence of the marriage ritual used and showed her to the disused corridor where traces of two of the rune circles could still be seen. "The elves have already removed the other circles and sanitised the area. I imagine they were disrupted by their regular duties and these would've been gone by this afternoon as well."

"The magical signatures are too degraded to identify. Once they've been assessed by the experts as evidence these circles need to be removed as soon as possible," Amelia ordered.

"I am sure that neither of these circles are in a state that would allow them to be used again without extensive testing and repair," Bathsheba replied. "In fact, in my opinion it would be safer to begin again than to repair all of these runes and be sure you hadn't missed anything.

"How many of your students are capable of fixing or redrawing this array?" Amelia asked.

"About seven without some help, even with a map of the runes, but only one of those is not already married, " Bathsheba replied. "He's been brought up by a pureblood misogynist and has unfortunately picked up too much of his father's attitude towards women I doubt that he would ever be able to convince a girl to want to marry him. The ministry matches or a betrothal contract will be his only chance of a family." She didn't mention that even the six who were already married would be prepared to draw another ritual circle if enough of their friends changed their minds about waiting for the ministry to match them. She noticed that many of the unbonded students had been frightened by the attempt to force the students into either marriage or Azkaban or who had seen the clear desperation in the minister's face as he realised that any attempt to force the muggleborns who had received a pairing notification into marrying their ministry chosen spouse would fail.

"Could he use other methods of persuasion? To get a girl to perform the ritual with him?" Amelia asked.

"No, that's the true beauty of this ritual. Both parties have to not only willingly perform it but to truly want to be bonded to the other for a bond to form. It cannot form a bond through rape, love potions or compulsions, and these rune circles couldn't be used to form a bond like that," Bathsheba replied. "We will remove them if only to stop the younger students trying to perform the ritual with the broken rune circles."

"We're there many failures?" Amelia asked.

"Several, but I couldn't tell you how many?" Bathsheba admitted. "Everyone who wanted to persevere succeeded in the end, even though some of the pairings are a little surprising."

"I noticed quite a few purebloods waiting in the great hall," Amelia said frowning. Her niece was one of them.

"The muggleborns had help with the research and drawing and maintaining the rune circles from several pureblood friends who didn't approve of the new legislation. Though only muggleborns received notification letters at this time they have all been matched with a pureblood so many of the students believe they will also eventually be matched whether they like it or not. And of course there are some who were dating a muggleborn, or who agreed to help a close friend escape the law. I believe some were probably also trying to escape the betrothal agreements their parents or head of house was negotiating for them," Bathsheeba said gently.

"I administered at least a dozen calming draughts to muggleborns whose attempts failed," Poppy told her.

"And you say it worked for them the second time?" Amelia asked.

"Not always the second time or even the third but eventually. Usually with a different partner," Bathsheba commented.

"Which may cause some line inheritance issues if they've conceived during the first attempt," Poppy added wryly.

"It was a sex ritual?" Amelia asked in horror.

"Yes, a ritual that required fully consensual sex on the part of both parties," Bathsheba said firmly.

"But some of these students are underage," Amelia protested.

"If they're old enough to be married off to old men by the ministry then they are old enough to choose to participate in a sex based marriage ritual with the partner of their choice," Poppy declared. "Miss Turpin was paired with Caradoc Dearborn and he's more than one hundred years older than her and has already buried four wives."

Amelia closed her eyes in horror. "We couldn't prove foul play in his wife's death but the healers were unhappy about it. She'd birthed several squibs in a suspiciously short time frame."

"And yet he was paired with the youngest and frailest of our muggleborn students old enough to be matched," Poppy said disapprovingly. "She'll not have survived a pregnancy every year for long."

"How many of the couples would you say are expecting, or planning on being expecting in the next year?" Amelia asked faintly.

"They all must be pregnant by this time next year, according to the law," Minerva reminded her friend sourly.

"It is worse than that. The notification letters contained a nasty dark fertility curse that cannot be countered. I'll be surprised if most of them aren't expecting by the end of the month," Poppy replied. "Minerva is planning to schedule separate classes for our expectant mothers to hopefully at least get all of them through their OWL or NEWT year. It's our sixth years that will be the least disadvantaged this year, though how any of them is going to study for NEWTs and care for a baby next year is beyond me. Perhaps some of the Hogwarts elves can be trained to assist and the unused corridors could be set up as a child care area."

"You expect Albus to allow them to attend school?" Amelia asked.

"According to the Hogwarts charter, only bearing a child out of wedlock is cause for expulsion, these students are all married," Poppy replied. "It would decimate the NEWT classes to lose them all. Particularly as many of their spouses would leave with them. If this blasted marriage law isn't revoked we could end up with nearly a generation of witches that aren't properly educated. It will set equality of the sexes back a century or more."

"And Hogwarts would be in danger of closing if we lose all of our sixth and seventh years, we would lose nearly 20% of our tuition, even if they are allowed to stay we will probably need to hire more staff to supervise the younger children if all the older students are moved to married housing," Minerva added.

The bonding specialist arrived and carefully cast diagnostic charms on each pair. "They're bonded, it is a permanent bond the equivalent of the strongest marriage bonds," she told the head of the DMLE. "Even Ms Perkins and Ms Brocklehurst are bonded strongly enough to be legally married."

"Why are those two young ladies significant?" Amelia asked curious that they were singled out.

"Because they are bonded to each other," the specialist replied.

"How is that possible?" Amelia asked shocked.

"I do not know. I assume they performed the ritual together," the bond specialist said curiously.

"The goal of these marriages was to increase the birth rate. This cannot be allowed," Auror Dawlish stated.

"Their bond is unassailable," the specialist countered. "There is nothing anybody can do about it."

"There are muggle ways for a woman to have a baby without being sexually involved with a wizard," Hermione said. 

"Idon't believe you!" Auror Dawlish spat.

"Believe it or not, Hermione is telling the truth. In the muggle world it is possible for two people who never ever meet each other to produce a baby conceived with scientific help, it's called artificial insemination," Harry said.

"But why would any woman deliberately choose to have a bastard baby?" another Auror asked confused.

"The disgrace of illegitimacy no longer exists in most of the muggle world," Leanne Tinker said. "A child no longer needs to be legitimate to inherit part of his or her parents' estate. But a child born from artificial insemination of sperm from a donor registry has no claim on his biological father not even the right to know what his name was. He or she could be their mother's primary heir, even if they later married and had another child. In fact, if the mother is married at the time, her husband is considered the legal father."

"I don't believe you," Dawlish replied.

"Believe what you like, it's true. In the muggle world, even unmarried teenage mothers are encouraged to keep their babies and schools provide childcare so they can keep their baby and finish school," Harry said. He'd seen several of his primary school class walking around obviously pregnant or pushing prams over the summer, and it was only the more vicious gossips like Petunia that said anything nasty about them.

A/N: Thank you to Ghostisreading, starboy454, caughtinblackseyes, J.F.C, katmom, SilverSwan6, Lexarius, BMS, mooneysfate, mwinter1, Millie072, Rori Potter, jkarr, Tyler'sPrincess, .Wonderland.8510, Embers, Melikalilly, mother oracle, Jostanos, Firehedgehog and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"Should we ask for married quarters?" Harry asked Hermione hesitantly. He had no idea which way he wanted her to answer. They may be married but their behaviour hadn't really changed. They still acted more like friends than a couple most of the time other than a chaste little kiss each morning and evening. Harry thought they should be more but he didn't know whether Hermione didn't want that or was just waiting for him to initiate it. He didn't want to push himself in where he wasn't wanted, he'd had more than enough of that in his life and it would make everything twice as awkward.

"I know it's going to be awkward to share a room, but I think we all should. We need to show the ministry that we're serious about these marriages," Hermione said. "The place is going to be crawling with ministry officials and reporters for a while and we want everyone to see that these marriages are as real as anyone else's."

"Why, the marriages can't be annulled or divorced no matter what the ministry thinks of them?" Harry asked.

"But it needs to look like we're making an effort to comply with the rest of the act and not sharing quarters when it's against school rules to have sex anywhere else is like advertising that we are not trying to have a baby," Hermione replied.

"I'm going to miss living in the dorm but I guess it's going to be super uncomfortable with Ron and Neville either way. Let's go see McGonagall," Harry replied. Hermione's answer didn't surprise him but it also didn't answer any of his other questions, did she want him to start acting like a boyfriend or husband or did she want things to stay as they were until they were forced by the law to start trying to have a baby.

"I'm not going to miss sharing a bathroom with Lavender and Parvati," Hermione said. "You can't possibly be as messy as them if only because you haven't got enough products to clutter the place up so much I can barely use the sink."

"Aunt Petunia has me pretty well trained in picking up after myself," Harry said mildly.

Hermione realised that his corner of the boys' dorm was normally an oasis of tidy in the mess that was the usual habitat of teenage boys and smiled.

"What about the fertility curse? Perhaps it would be better not to share a bed for the next three months?" Harry suggested.

"I think I can trust you not to pressure me into anything just because we share a room," Hermione replied. "You might be right about some of the other couples but I think it might have already been too late for a lot of them by the time we found out about the curse and they'll need their own rooms if they're going to have a baby. And if we change our minds you can always go to London and purchase more condoms, not that I expect things to go there before we go home at Christmas."

"Okay then, only if you promise not to start snoring like Neville and Seamus," Harry said jokingly. "I don't think I could handle that without the curtains to cast silencing charms on."

Hermione laughed.

-o0o-

That night Dumbledore made an announcement at Dinner.

"You will all have read the news of the marriage law that the Wizengamot reactivated several months ago. Many of you managed to circumvent the Ministry's choice of partners and complete your own marriage rituals. Those marriages will be upheld by the Wizengamot, and the couples involved will not be punished, but those couples will still be held to the rest of the law. That is that each couple will be required to produce a child within the next 18 months and a second child within the next 5 years.

Because of this law and the fact that up to half our sixth and seventh years will need to produce a child before finishing their NEWTs, the Hogwarts governors have met today and have decided to implement a modified three year NEWTs program for pregnant witches so that they do not have to forfeit their education. Each married witch will be tested for pregnancy each week and will be removed from classes that could compromise their babies' health. They will continue to attend their other classes for as long as they are well enough and then return to class when they're able.

So, could all married witches present themselves to Madam Pomfrey directly after breakfast every Saturday morning to be cleared for attending the following weeks classes."

Madam Pomfrey quickly stood up and amended the order being aware how many couples had actually used the bonding ritual. "Ravenclaw witches please see me at eight-thirty, Hufflepuff witches at nine-thirty, Gryffindors at half past ten and Slytherins at eleven thirty."

"Any fifth year falling pregnant will spend two years in fifth year before being required to sit their OWLs," Professor McGonagall added. "And partners are welcome to join their pregnant spouses in the special program if they wish to enable them to provide as much support as possible and share the childcare duties when the time comes. We are still discussing whether witches who have married someone in a higher year than theirs will be given permission to live outside of Hogwarts after their husbands have graduated and can provide a home for them or whether the graduated wizards will be allowed to remain living in the castle."

The headmaster looked shocked, and Hermione wondered whether it hadn't occurred to him that any of the bonded students would be below sixth year, or if he hadn't planned on wizard's educations also being affected by the fact their wives were having a baby.

-o0o-

HARRY JAMES POTTER

HOW COULD YOU BREAK MY DAUGHTER'S HEART LIKE THAT? SHE WAS YOUR GIRLFRIEND, DID YOU THINK ABOUT HER AT ALL BEFORE YOU WENT AND MARRIED SOMEONE ELSE! DON'T YOU KNOW SHE'S DREAMED ABOUT MARRYING YOU HER WHOLE LIFE?

AND HERMIONE! I THOUGHT THAT GINNY WAS YOUR FRIEND? ONLY A SCARLET WOMAN WOULD CONSIDER STEALING A FRIENDS' BOYFRIEND THAT WAY! AND WHAT ABOUT RONNIE, YOU KNOW HE LOVES YOU. WHY DIDN'T YOU MARRY HIM INSTEAD OF CAUSING EVERYONE SO MUCH GRIEF? YOU SHOULD BOTH BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES! YOU WILL NEVER BE WELCOME IN MY HOME AGAIN AND I WILL BE WRITING TO ALL MY CHILDREN ORDERING THEM TO SEVER THEIR FRIENDSHIP WITH YOU!

Harry had grabbed Hermione pulling her to his chest and covering her ears as the howler started yelling. Now he loosened his grip but she didn't move away from him.

"Don't listen to her Hermione. You know it wasn't like that. She will come around once she listens to the whole story," Harry whispered consolingly.

"It's going to be like fourth year. It took her months to forgive me after the Daily Prophet said I'd broken your heart. How much worse will it be when it's her real son and daughter?"

"It only took months to get her to listen because it was months before we saw her and nobody else was present to tell her the truth either. I say we write to the twins and tell them the whole story and ask them to try to explain it to their mother, Katie will back us up if they need confirmation we're telling the truth.

"It's not just that! How can she think so little of us that she would jump to the conclusion that you would cheat on Ginny and I would cheat on Ron and hurt my best friend by marrying her boyfriend, this is the second time she's decided that I'm a scarlet woman on the most flimsy or unreliable evidence. What's wrong with me that lead her to think I could do that?"

"There's nothing wrong with you Hermione. Molly is just too overprotective of her youngest children and wants to protect them from every single hurt feeling or papercut. She automatically blames everyone and anyone for their disappointment, no matter how unrealistic it is," Harry tried to comfort his wife while rationalising Molly Weasley's behaviour. Unfortunately he achieved neither.

"I'm going to send her a howler back," Harry decided.

"Do you even know how to send a howler?" Hermione asked.

"No but I'm going to find out. It's a Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow and I will ask at the post office and the stationary shop if I can't find out before then," Harry said determinedly.

"But Harry, do you think you should. It's awfully impolite and she has been good to you," Hermione protested. "Mrs Weasley will be angry."

"Has been good to me, past tense according to her howler and it's not impolite Hermione, howlers are downright abusive and we are not her children. She has no right to send a howler like that to me or my wife. So what if she's annoyed by it, she can hardly be more angry than forbidding any of her family to be friends with me," Harry retorted before standing up.

"Hey can anyone tell me how to send a howler?" he called out.

Nearly everyone shook their heads at him. "Most people don't send howlers Harry. It's considered extremely rude," Neville told him.

Ron scowled and turned to Neville. "Are you calling my mother rude?" he demanded.

"If he's not I am," Harry said. "This is the second time she's done this to Hermione without finding out if the rumour she's heard is true. And both times it was a total fabrication. Everyone in the school heard your mum accuse Hermione of breaking yours and Ginny's hearts and cheating. It wasn't true last time and it isn't true now, and even if she does apologise she isn't going to do so publically. A private apology isn't going to let everyone know she was wrong. I bet there are still people here who believe Hermione cheated on me by going to the Yule Ball in fourth year with Victor Krum even though Hermione and I never dated. So I am saying clearly to everyone that Ginny and I had broken up because she didn't want to get married. You didn't want to marry Hermione and as a muggleborn she needed to marry before the ministry matched her up someone who would mistreat and abuse her. We were both free to marry and neither of us did anything wrong. Your mother doesn't know what she was talking about, and she had no right to send a howler even if she was upset with us! It was unpardonably rude and I am going to tell her that!"

Neville looked at Harry in annoyance. "I don't need you to stand up for me Potter. Yes, Ron I was calling your mother rude. Hermione and the other muggleborns were in an impossible situation and I'm glad they all managed to marry someone they trust. Your mother had no right to abuse Hermione for saving herself."

"What would the two of you know? Neither of you has a mother to care enough to send a howler," Ron retorted unthinkingly.

Ron was about to keep yelling when Seamus spoke up. "Harry and Neville are right, Ron. You and I both dread receiving a howler from our Mums. It's loud and humiliating and it really isn't something you should do to your friends or your family. And our Mums are the only two Mums in the school who regularly send them as a way of punishing us."

"Twenty points from Gryffindor, Mr Weasley, for your crass and cruel comment, and detention tonight to learn some basic manners since it's evident your mother has failed to teach them to you," Minerva McGonagall said loudly. "You're quite correct Mr Finnegan, several of the staff have been debating whether the wards should be altered to block howlers and cursed mail for some time and now with the issue of so many of you having been matched by the ministry before they realised you're were off the marriage market I think it's time that we took action."

Two of the other heads of house nodded their agreement, but the head of Slytherin just scowled and the Headmaster twinkled at her and said that they'd discus it at the next staff meeting.

"For your information Mr Potter, the charm to turn a letter into a howler can be found in the book 'Communication for all Occasions', it is not in the library and is no longer in print but I do have a copy in my office if you'd care to meet me there after classes this morning. No doubt there are other sections in the book you may be interested in. The new wards will of course prevent the sending of howlers as well as redirecting howlers sent to the castle back to their sender," Minerva said.

Harry grinned. "I will meet you after class," he agreed.

-o0o-

Amelia was surprisingly efficient in her investigation into Cornelius Fudge's actions during the implementation of the marriage law. She quickly gathered enough evidence to add charges of corruption and accepting bribes to his original charges of child endangerment, behaviour risking causing a miscarriage and endangering several pureblood lines, namely Bones, and Potter who's only surviving heirs were currently bonded to muggleborns and risked being arrested by the minister on Monday. She also had enough proof to call an emergency meeting of the Wizengamot to have the current matches all declared invalid until a full investigation of how the magical compatibility and fertility was being established and the fertile unmarried witches and wizards over the age of seventeen who had graduated or left school were all rematched to the most compatible wizard or witch within twenty years of their age. She also planned to propose that the seventeen year olds still in school would be allowed to finish their NEWTs before the marriage had to occur.

The emergency meeting of the Wizengamot was called but the evening before it could occur the head healer from St Mungo's called Amelia urgently about another change in the law he believed needed to be made.

"What is it Edmund? I'm quite busy getting the Wizengamot to declare the current compatibility matches invalid due to the interference of corruption and bribes paid to those in charge of the matching process," Amelia asked.

"I wouldn't call if it wasn't important and I believe this to be related to the marriages that have already occurred," Edmund Carruthers head healer of the curse damage area of St Mungo's said.

"I have five muggleborns admitted with signs of torture, all of whom claim they were attacked by their husband after being married by the ministry in the past few days."

"I'll send an Auror to take their statements and have their husbands arrested," Amelia said.

"They're muggleborns Amelia. While I think their husbands should do time in Azkaban you know the law is not on these victims' side," Edmund said angrily.

"Yes, but as my niece reminded me today the new marriage law heavily penalises anyone who risks causing a witch to miscarry," Amelia replied.

"I'll test them all for pregnancy but it's probably too soon to tell," Edmund replied.

"Some unscrupulous person cast a dark fertility hex on the match notification letters sent to Hogwarts. Test for that too, if they are under the curse and have had relations in the last week they will be pregnant, or would have been prior to the attack," Amelia informed him. "It was enough to charge Cornelius. It will be enough for these abusers."

"Cornelius married a muggleborn and then abused her? That doesn't sound like a risk he would take."

"No the muggleborns at Hogwarts found a way to perform ritual marriages with their boyfriends and girlfriends to escape the ministry matches and he threatened to send them all to Azkaban to await trial. Some of the spouses were underage and all of the witches admitted that they might be pregnant," Amelia said sighing. "We also have evidence that the matching process was corrupted by bribes, so I am planning to go to the Wizengamot to have all current matches invalidated, and the matching redone after the corruption is weeded out."

"Well good luck with that Amelia," Edmund said.

"I'll send you the Aurors, document everything, thanks for calling me with this," Amelia said disconnecting.

-o0o-

The Wizengamot was called to order at noon the next day and a very tired Amelia presented her case. She started with the criminal cases against the husbands of the muggleborns admitted to St Mungo's overnight. The Wizengamot had no hesitation in finding them guilty, the evidence was overwhelming but they were shocked when the culprits didn't receive their normal slap over the wrist and fine.

"The marriage law clearly states that any injury that potentially leads to a miscarriage has a mandatory five years in Azkaban," Amelia stated. "If you wanted to change that you should have done so before voting the law back into use. It cannot be changed now."

There was some grumbling before Augusta Longbottom spoke up. "Madam Bones is correct. The mandatory penalties for child endangerment whether the child has been born or not are clearly written into the emergency marriage act. The act was brought back into law to raise our population, so the children must be protected."

"But these men aren't going to be able to contribute to our population in Azkaban," Augustus Rookwood replied.

"They have already endangered the potential baby the act led them to create, if they only get a slap on the wrist they will abuse their wives again. Sending them to prison may save their children's lives," Amelia argued.

"It's a mandatory minimum sentence, the only question is whether we want to sentence these men to more than five years," Albus said in his position of Chief Warlock.

All protests stopped and the minimum sentence was passed for all five men.

Then she brought in Cornelius Fudge.

"Former Minister Cornelius Fudge removed from his position and charged with 31 counts of planning to harm a potential unborn baby 26 counts of endangerment of a minor and receiving bribes and interference in the compatibility matches organised under the emergency marriage act," Amelia declared.

She told the story of what had happened that day at Hogwarts calling Minerva McGonagall and Poppy Pomfrey to testify then produced the documentation of payments received for altering the compatibility matches to match purebloods with the muggleborn of their choice.

The vote was closer than it should have been but he was eventually found guilty on all charges.

"There's a five year mandatory sentence each for all the child endangerment charges that's a minimum of 130 years even if none of the students are pregnant," Albus said. "Or a minimum sentence of 285 years if you accept that all the married witches at Hogwarts could be pregnant."

The shocked Wizengamot voted for the 130 year sentence with more to be added once the witches in question had been proved to have been pregnant.

Amelia Bones brought out a final prisoner for sentencing. "Dolores Umbridge was in charge of making the compatibility matches and sending out the letters. She applied an illegal dark magic fertility curse to each letter, that's 280 dark curses and she also accepted bribes to alter the results of the compatibility. Those curses will result in pregnancy after pregnancy increase the chance of multiple births and put 280 women in danger of dying in childbirth, reducing the number of second children born which contravenes the emergency marriage act," she said providing the proof. "She was also matching muggleborns from the age of 17 but not matching any pureblood or half blood under 25 unless they requested it.

Dolores Umbridge was found guilty by an overwhelming majority, clearly the woman was disliked by everyone she'd had dealings with, even those that ended in their favour.

"I recommend a sentence of 20 years in Azkaban medium security," Amelia said.

There was a general agreement and Dolores was carted out of the courtroom screaming.

"I move that all matches be declared invalid and the marriages already carried out be annulled, since we cannot prove beyond doubt how many of them were tampered with. I also propose that a trustworthy person be chosen to redo the work and that they take an oath to make new matches on compatibility, and to limit the age difference to twenty years, I also propose that fertility tests be taken before any marriages take place," Amelia proposed.

"Why the age difference limit?" Amos Diggory asked.

"Caradoc Dearbourne is 129 years old but he was matched with a sixth year student who turned 17 one week before the matching process began. He should not have even been considered for a match at his age," Amelia replied.

The majority of the father's in the Wizengamot shuddered before the proposal was put to the vote and passed easily.

"I propose that students be allowed to complete their NEWTs before being married, and expected to have a baby," Augusta Longbottom proposed. "Otherwise we will see a drop in the education level of our society and that is not acceptable.

Minerva McGonagall seconded that proposal.

"What difference does it make, they're only muggleborns, they won't get a decent job anyway," Pius Thickness snorted.

"There are several pureblood witches at Hogwarts who are already married," Minerva stated. "And, except for the very wealthy and those that choose to send their children to muggle primary schools, it is normally the children's mother who is responsible for their education prior to Hogwarts, I have found that the education level of their mothers greatly influences the student's attitude to learning and the number of NEWT's achieved by the student."

"And once the matching is done ethically and according to the emergency marriage act then every other seventeen year old witch in the castle will also be receiving a match notification," Amelia retorted. "The law did not allow for differences to be made related to blood purity."

"That needs to be changed. I propose that the emergency marriage act be limited to muggleborns, half boods and only those purebloods who choose to participate," Corban Yaxley declared.

"You cannot put forward a proposal until the current proposal has been voted on, and unfortunately the very statute of the emergency marriage act does not allow for such alterations. It was to apply to every witch or wizard or not to be enacted at all," Albus reminded him gently.

"Let's vote then and move on," Corban Yaxley replied disgruntledly.

There was general agreement this law also passed, students would no longer have to become pregnant until three months after completing their NEWTs or leaving full time schooling.

"I also propose that those couples with less than 70% compatibility be given the choice to decline the match and be included in the following years selections. Otherwise next year the wizards and witches who are currently sixteen will have a very small group to be matched with," Augusta Longbottom proposed.

This also made sense to most people and was passed without comment.

"I propose that witches or wizards who already have a betrothal agreement be exempted from the matching process," Mattias Davis proposed, unaware that his sixteen year old daughter had already married a muggleborn to escape both her ministry match and the betrothal her father had arranged for her.

"Unfortunately, the emergency marriage act does not allow for that alteration. One of the reasons it was brought back into law was due to the number of pureblood couples married through family betrothal agreements who do not manage to produce a magical child," Amelia countered.

There were no more proposals put forward regarding the emergency marriage act and the emergency meeting of the Wizengamot was declared closed.

A/N: Thank you to Ghostisreading, J.F.C, caughtinblackseyes, KrystylSky, BMS, katmom, Jostanos, LiteratureSoccerEnthusiast, Lexarius, gabrieljuarezl, animeromance1972, Millie072, PukwudgiePuff, Rainbow2007, mikanMD, Rori Potter, Embers, Firehedgehog, Lientjuhh, Melikalilly, tyrannicpuppy, , Sarasri and all those who have followed or favourited me or this story for your support.

A/N2: a lot of people have asked how long this story will be. I'm not sure, when I started posting this story was in my mind complete and seven chapters long. As I do my final edit before posting and sometimes in response to reviews, I start adding things. This is what happened to the other three works in progress I have, but I am determined that this will not end up like "The Last Straw" which was complete at approximately 85,000 words when I started posting it nearly three years ago and is now no closer to being finished at almost 400,000 words. I'm hoping to wrap it up in another two or three chapters. This will mean that Ron and Neville are not due to be matched for another year and Ginny the year after that will not be matched in this story, though I will not rule out writing a sequel set a year or two into the future.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Molly and Arthur were just finishing breakfast when an unfamiliar owl dropped a red smoking letter on the table. Harry hadn't wanted to use Hedwig, he didn't want to risk hurting her ears with the howler.

Arthur looked at the letter and wondered who had finally had enough of Molly's habit of sending howlers. He rather thought it might be the twins. He covered his ears as it exploded and Harry's voice started shouting.

MOLLY WEASLEY

HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO MY WIFE THAT WAY!

AND HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE THE TWO OF US OF CHEATING ON YOUR CHILDREN. THE TRUTH IS THAT THEY DIDN'T WANT TO MARRY US. GINNY REFUSED TO EVEN DISCUSS IT WE BROKE UP AND SHE WAS DATING DEAN THOMAS AGAIN BEFORE HERMIONE AND I GOT MARRIED. SHE REFUSED TO MARRY HIM TOO BUT BY THE TIME SHE DECIDED SHE WANTED ME BACK I WAS ALREADY MARRIED. IM SORRY HER FEELINGS WERE HURT BUT SHE DOESN'T LOVE ME THE WAY SHE THINKS SHE DOES. IF SHE DID SHE WOULDN'T HAVE REFUSED TO MARRY ME.

RON DIDN'T WANT TO MARRY HERMIONE EITHER AND THEY NEVER DATED.

NEITHER HERMIONE OR I ARE YOUR CHILDREN AND IT IS UNPARDONABLY RUDE OF YOU TO SEND US A HOWLER ACCUSING US OF THINGS WE DIDN'T DO!

DID YOU EVEN TRY TO FIND OUT IF WHAT YOU HEARD WAS TRUE?

THIS IS THE SECOND TIME YOU'VE PUBLICALLY ACCUSED MY WIFE OF CHEATING, OF BEING A SCARLET WOMAN.

THIS TIME A PRIVATE APOLOGY WILL NOT BE SUFFICIENT TO MAKE UP FOR THE INSULT YOU DELIVERED.

Arthur looked at the letter in shock as it finished speaking and exploded.

"Molly what did you do?" he asked apprehensively.

Molly didn't even hear her husband. "How dare he…" she began yelling. She went to stand and Arthur grabbed her before she could go off on a rant and do whatever she was planning to do.

"Molly, what did you do?" Arthur demanded.

"How could he do that to me. When I get a hold of that young man, he is going to regret his actions," Molly fumed.

"Molly, Harry is not your son. It is not your responsibility to punish him," Arthur said.

"He has no respect for me. I didn't bring him up to behave like that!" Molly yelled.

"You didn't bring him up at all. He is not one of your sons. What did you do to make him react like that? Why did he feel it necessary to send you a howler? He is normally such a polite boy," Arthur demanded. "Please tell me you didn't send Harry and Hermione a howler?"

"He hurt Ginny, he left her. Ginny loves him! She was his girlfriend! They were destined to be together and he want and married someone else! How did he not know he was supposed to be with Ginny?" Molly said angrily.

"Did you even listen to what he had to say or were you too angry to listen. He said Ginny refused to marry him and Ron didn't want to marry Hermione. Hermione had to do something, she was in danger! You know the Death Eaters were using bribes to get the brides they wanted. How long do you think Hermione would have survived married to a Death Eater?" Arthur said firmly, still holding his wife still trying to force her to listen.

"He broke Ginny's heart!" Molly wailed. "Our precious Ginny who's already been through too much. He was her hero and he abandoned her!"

"It sounds more like she abandoned him from his point of view. He said he asked Ginny to marry him before he asked Hermione. Ginny said NO!" Arthur kept trying to get through to the distraught and deluded woman who was his wife.

"But she loves him!" Molly cried.

"Then she should have agreed to marry him when he asked her. It is not Harry or Hermione's fault if she's changed her mind and decided she wants him after all," Arthur retorted.

"He still had no right to break her heart, and no right to speak to me like that," Molly declared.

"I would be angry with him too if he sent my wife a howler for no good reason. He has every right to be upset with you and while I don't approve of him using a howler to express that upset, you did send the first one," Arthur said sighing.

"I'm going to.." Molly began.

"STOP Right there! I forbid you from contacting Harry or Hermione until you are ready and willing to apologise to them for your rudeness, I also forbid you to send any more howlers to anyone. You know that it is considered the height of bad manners," Arthur ordered.

-o0o-

"Did you end up sending that howler to Ron's Mum?" Seamus asked.

"Yes I did. She should be receiving it right about now. What I want to know is who wrote to Molly and lied to her about the events leading up to our bonding, to cause her to send the howler in the first place. As angry as I am about Mrs Weasley's response, I know she wouldn't have sent it if she knew the truth," Harry said

"They didn't necessarily have had to lie," Dean said, though he didn't really know why he was bothering to defend his ex-girlfriend.

"But not telling the whole story in order to mislead their mother is lying. They led her to believe I was still dating Ginny when I married Hermione without telling Ginny anything about it. They had to have realised what she would do," Harry retorted.

"That's what Ginny believed when we spoke to her," Hermione said.

"And what Ron believed too but Ginny vowed not to tell anyone, including her parents, and Ron was spelled not to be able to talk about the ritual," Harry said.

"But the spell and the vow only lasted until the ministry found out, which they did Monday at lunch. Either of them could have sent a letter that afternoon though I think it would be more likely to have been Ginny to have acted so quickly," Hermione said referring to Ron's laziness.

"Which still means their letter was written after they spoke to us. They knew the truth," Harry pointed out.

-o0o-

At the same time as all this was going on, in a flat over a joke shop in Diagon Alley, the occupants received a letter a friend of theirs had written after hearing the howler from Molly Weasley the morning before.

Dear Fred and George and Alicia

Congratulations George and Alicia on your marriage. Just know that Angelina may have left the country but I didn't and if you do not treat her well you will answer to me George Weasley.

I too am married to Eddie Carmichael. You do remember Eddie, don't you? I'm sorry I couldn't say anything about it when we met Liss. I vowed to keep it secret. As I'm sure you can guess, this was Hermione's plan.

Hermione and some others found a marriage ritual which didn't require an outside binder and cannot be annulled or reversed. It was a runic ritual and it took ages to draw all the runes so that's why we were still waiting to see if it would work when I last saw you.

One of the reasons for writing other than to congratulate you and tell you about my marriage is to tell you what's been going on with Ron and Ginny.

Hermione is already seventeen too and she was afraid of who she'd be matched with too. She tried to marry Ron but the bond didn't take and the only explanation for that is that Ron didn't really want it to. Harry also asked Ginny to marry him and she refused, she wanted a big white wedding in the summer but Harry was too worried to wait. I know he's only sixteen but as he said, he's Harry Potter, and he was worried that once the ministry found out about this ritual and the number of muggleborns who escaped their ministry matched marriages they would make it illegal for others to marry. Hermione was desperate and I'd say harry was too so they married each other. Ron and Ginny are upset about it of course but it's really their own fault so nobody took their complaints seriously except for your mum who sent Harry and Hermione a howler. From what it said your mum doesn't know the full story and Harry is furious with the lot of them.

Your mum said in her howler that she was going to tell you not to be friends with Harry and Hermione any more and I figured it was best that you learn the whole truth before you decided to prank them.

Yours sincerely,

Katie Carmichael nee Bell.

"What a mess" Alicia said.

"I'm glad we found out before we sent them anything," Fred said.

"The real question is, should we send this parcel to Ron instead?" George asked.

"I think we should wait and see whether it was Ron that dished the dirt on Harry and Hermione to Mum, or if it was Ginny," Fred replied.

"There is that, but how do we find out?" George agreed.

"I think a visit to our esteemed parents might be in order George," Fred declared in a fake haughty tone of voice.

"I'm Fred you idiot," George said automatically.

"I'm fairly sure I'm Fred," Fred replied.

Alicia leaned over and cuffed George on the back of the head. "That doesn't work on me guys."

"Shall we visit tonight?" Fred said becoming serious.

"I think we should," George said.

"Are you coming clean about your marriage too? It will be a good opportunity while Mum's distracted," Fred suggested.

"I think you should, I'll come with you," Alicia said before George could reply.

-o0o-

Elsewhere the Aurors were having a busy week.

When the original ministry matches were declared invalid and all couples who'd married were ordered to report to the ministry to have their marriages undone. Those that did not arrive on the day were collected by Aurors, and if necessary the abusers were arrested and the victims port-keyed to St Mungo's for their injuries to be documented and healed. Unfortunately the majority of couples had to be collected and many of the muggleborns had to receive at least some healing.

Unsurprisingly there was not a single couple where the muggleborn partner wanted to stay in the marriage, even among those who had not been physically abused.

-o0o-

It took several days for the elves to arrange for the married quarters for everyone who had taken part in a successful ritual. In the days before they became available, Hermione got tired of kicking couples out of broom closets and abandoned classrooms while on prefect patrol and suggested to the other prefects that they exempt married couples from losing points and detentions until they had their own rooms.

Unfortunately for Hermione moving to married quarters had an unexpected side effect. Professor McGonagall had announced the day the decisions were to be finalised.

"Students moving out of their houses and into married accommodation will need to give up their prefect badges, as a large part of their duties was supervising the younger students in their common rooms and providing mentoring for them. They will however remain eligible for the positions of head boy or girl," Minerva announced. We will allocate new prefects once we have confirmation who will be remaining in the dormitories and who will be moving to other accommodation."

Hermione frowned. "That's going to cause problems, I think all the seventh year Gryffindors got married and the only other sixth year to give it to would be Neville."

Seamus laughed. "I can't wait to tease him about being the girls' prefect."

Dean and Ron cracked up laughing too.

"They might appoint two fifth year prefects instead and make Neville the boys' seventh year prefect," Hermione said.

-o0o-

Many couples had gone back to having sex in spite of the fertility hex on their letters because they'd thought that they'd have to have a child before leaving Hogwarts anyway. Harry and Hermione had discussed it and she wanted to wait as long as possible. She figured that if throwing someone in Azkaban at the very start of a pregnancy could endanger the baby it would be enough to be pregnant before the eighteen month deadline, and part of her wanted to take that chance and finish her NEWTS before trying to have a baby. Not to mention she needed to find a way to explain the whole mess to her parents and that would be easier if she wasn't already pregnant. She was annoyed that she had to have a baby before finishing her mastery and establishing her career. To have a baby this year would delay her academic career to take and additional year before sitting her NEWT's but on the other hand an extra year at Hogwarts with full access to the library seemed like a dream come true to her.

The news of the alterations in the implementation of the emergency marriage act the next day was met with mixed responses. Those witches who had already married and were not already trying to have a baby or had given into the fertility curse were relieved to find out that so long as they were still attending school they had until three months after finishing their NEWTs before they had to be pregnant. On the other hand, those seventeen year old half-bloods and purebloods who had not received match notifications from the ministry in the first round were upset to hear that it was not just muggleborns who would be subjected to the emergency marriage act and that they would be matched this year after all with new notifications expected to be announced by Yule at the latest. And several pureblood couples began asking the married couples how they had managed to marry in secret, wanting to do the same.

In addition to this, Ron and Ginny were upset with Harry and Hermione all over again once it became known that her match with Terrence Higgs had been declared invalid. They seemed to think that with the changes in the law Harry had overreacted in marrying Hermione instead of waiting until the summer when he and Ginny could have had a big white wedding in the orchard at the Burrow like Ginny had dreamed of, and both had subjected Hermione to some very publicly embarrassing screaming tantrums in the great hall, costing Gryffindor to loose enough points to make the two Weasleys pariahs among their housemates, particularly the muggleborns and all the others who had performed the marriage bonding ritual.

-o0o-

Hermione noticed that there seemed to be a lot more mail delivered at breakfast the day that the Daily Prophet announced the changes to the marriage law and that following breakfast a large number of students approached their heads of house. She also noticed that Professor Snape seemed pleased as he nodded and signed something for each student, but that the other three heads of house seemed more resigned than pleased though none of them put forth any objection or hesitated to sign whatever paperwork they were being given. The next thing they noticed throughout the day was that a lot of the students who had had forms signed, were not in class that morning, or attended morning classes before being absent in the afternoon classes. She asked several people what was going on, but it wasn't until the last class of the day, Arithmancy, that Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis were able to give her answers.

"A lot of students from traditional families have been pulled out of classes today and taken home by their families who have arranged a druid to come to their homes and finalise their betrothals, before the ministry can break the betrothals and match them to someone else," Tracey said quietly. "The ministry hadn't properly considered all the business deals and honour debts that are made based on family betrothals. To break them all would cause chaos, not to mention that I'm not sure that accepting the ministry match allocation wouldn't be considered a breach of a betrothal contract and some of the penalties for that could be severe on the betrothed and their families depending on the contract itself."

"You mean they're getting married too. You got a letter, are you going to be in trouble for not going?" Hermione asked. "What about the penalties in your betrothal contracts?"

"I'm probably going to be disowned for getting married, my parents should have received my letter telling them this morning so they won't be expecting me to come, but as minors the penalties will fall on our head of house who arranged the betrothals in the first place, my parents and Daphne's grandfather" Tracey replied.

"My parents won't be furious, they weren't happy about my betrothal anyway, my Grandfather is head of House Greengrass and betrothed me and my sister Astoria," Daphne said even more quietly. "I should have tried to get Storey to try the ritual," she added guiltily.

"It wouldn't have worked. She's only thirteen, not old enough to make a commitment for life. She wouldn't have done it anyway, and she might have told him and ruined everything, you know she isn't unhappy with her betrothal," Tracey said.

"She got a letter today. She's going to be married this afternoon to Draco Malfoy. She thinks he's rich and handsome but she isn't going to be happy once she gets to know him better," Daphne said sadly. "She was quite angry that I refused to go to her wedding, but I couldn't bear to watch her tie herself to him. She's so lovely, happy, innocent and optimistic about everything. She should have been a Hufflepuff."

"I thought that Draco was betrothed to Pansy?" Hermione said confused.

"She would like to think so. I don't think her parents had told her who she was betrothed to. Draco didn't know about Storey either. It was the one thing Mum and Dad were able to insist on in the contract, that she be let grow up without having him hanging over her. Of course, they weren't supposed to marry until she finished school," Daphne replied.

"I wish the married quarters were ready. It's going to be foul in the common room and dorm tonight," Tracey said.

"You could ask the professors, surely some are ready if it's going to be dangerous for you to stay in the dorms," Hermione suggested. "If they say no then I am sure your husbands would be willing to sneak you into their dorms."

"Except I married Blasé who also won't be safe in the Slytherin dorms tonight," Tracey said.

"He should be safe enough tonight. They'll be too focused on their own marriages to do anything so long as the two of you stick together, Daphne said.

"Except for those whose betrothed don't go to Hogwarts," Tracy said pessimistically.

-o0o-

"We are going to have to hire house supervisors to look after the younger students," Minerva said as the staff meeting moved from academics to other things.

"I'm sure that won't be necessary," Albus said calmly.

"I have two male sixteen year old sixth year Gryffindors living in the dorms neither of whom will be seventeen until the spring and summer, and no sixth year girls or seventh years at all. There is also only one fifth year girl who won't be sixteen until August. She cannot be responsible for half the junior Gryffindors. We would be remiss in our duty of care to the younger years if we do not hire someone to supervise them in their common room. The current teaching staff cannot possibly be asked to add this to their duties, we are stretched thin enough as it is," Minerva retorted.

"I think that hiring a house supervisor is the only workable option. Ravenclaw will be similarly bereft of senior students," Filius added.

"As will Hufflepuff," Pomona agreed.

"And as of this week Slytherin will also have no unmarried students over fifteen," Severus said.

"I was only aware of three of your sixth years participating in the marriage bonding rituals and requesting married quarters," Minerva said surprised.

"Many of the students were called home for their families to arrange immediate marriage to their betrothed to avoid the penalties of breaking the betrothal agreements the ministry refused to honour," Severus said sneering.

"I'm sure that as head of house you can provide adequate supervision to your students," Albus said.

"Not if I'm also expected to complete the brewing for the infirmary and the necessary class preparation and marking," Severus sneered.

"And not if you wanted me to continue completing all the tasks that are actually listed as the Headmaster's duties as well as all the deputy Headmistress duties," Minerva replied firmly. "It would be cheaper to hire a house supervisor for each house than it would be to hire an administration assistant, an assistant Herbologist to maintain the greenhouses and a second potions master."

Albus capitulated frowning. "I'm not at all sure where we'd find the budget for them," he protested.

"Let me worry about that. I have been in charge of the budget for some years now and I believe we could easily afford it. Those positions were in the budget until approximately forty years ago and still remain in the Hogwarts Charter," Minerva said uncompromisingly.

-o0o-

Harry and Hermione went to pack their trunks for the move, Hermione didn't have any issues, both her roommates were also moving out as well and the two of them were busy trying to sort out which things belonged to whom. Hermione's things were mostly already tidily put away and it only took a few minutes to pack the clean clothes the elves had returned that day and the quilt her grandmother had made her.

Harry wasn't so lucky, Dean and Seamus had already taken their things and moved out while Harry was at quidditch training, and he arrived back in the dorm from the shower to find Ron and Neville sitting on their beds talking. He gathered his clothes and hurriedly pulled them on before throwing his things into his trunk.

"You're leaving us," Ron said mulishly.

"I'm moving to the married accommodation," Harry confirmed.

"You don't have to, Dumbledore gave couples a choice," Neville said.

"I know, but I also know that the ministry are looking for excuses to punish the couples who used the ritual rather than marry their ministry assigned spouses. Hermione says that it's important that none of us give the impression that we're not in a romantic married relationship," Harry explained matter-of-factly. "Not to mention Hermione and I don't want our child conceived in a broom closet."

Ron's ears turned red and Neville blushed scarlet. Neither of them said a single thing as Harry finished packing his stuff. "See you in class," he said.

He carried his trunk to his new room and knocked before letting himself in.

"You don't need to knock Harry, these are your rooms too," Hermione said.

He looked around in surprise, it wasn't a bedroom as he'd been expecting but a small flat with a loungeroom/study a separate bedroom and their own loo and shower.

"I could sleep on the couch," he offered. It looked long and comfortable enough.

"If you'd prefer to," Hermione said stiffly.

"Hermione?" Harry said uncertainly.

Hermione turned and continued unpacking. "You can have the cupboards and drawers on that side," she said briskly.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Harry asked. "Don't you want me to sleep on the couch? I'm happy to sleep in here with you if you want me to. I offered to sleep on the couch because I thought you might want me to."

Hermione looked up, "I think I want you in here with me, I want to have as much of a real marriage as possible. We need to make the best of this."

"This is a real marriage, I understand you don't want to risk falling pregnant this year and I'm more than willing to wait. I've never shared a bed with anyone though, not since my parents died at least, I don't remember before that. I tend to flail about a bit when I have a nightmare though, so feel free to change your mind and ask me to sleep on the couch if it becomes too much of a problem," Harry said softly.

"Hopefully having me here will stop you from having so many nightmares," Hermione replied gently.

"I hope so," Harry said doubtfully as he finished putting away his things and sat to wait for Hermione so they could walk down to dinner together.

Harry thought that living with Hermione might just turn out to be even more awkward than sharing a dorm with Ron and Neville. It took more than a marriage ritual to make a real marriage. This wasn't just a choice made to save his best friend but a whole new life. But the decision was made, Hermione was his wife and he was determined to make it work.

A/N: Thank you to tyrannicpuppy, J.F.C, mwinter1, Melikalilly, katmom, BMS, Lientjuhh, animeromance1972, Tyler'sPrincess, Ghostisreading, mother oracle, sln1987, Millie072, jkarr, Child of Dreams, Icelynne, Rori Potter, BadWolfJiggy, Embers, Rainbow2007, Jostanos, ordinaryguy2, mooneysfate, Firehedgehog, rb2312, reader1writer1, dragonfighter11, Village-Mystic and all those who followed and favourited me or this story for your support.

A/N2: Sorry everyone, there wont be a chapter tomorrow or probably the day after either, it isn't written yet.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Harry pulled Hermione in for a hug as soon as she finished unpacking. "We haven't really talked about us and our relationship. What do you want from this Hermione?"

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked confused.

"We don't have to start trying for a baby for another year and a half and I know you married me for security more than any other reason. Do you want to be just room mates for a while or be my girlfriend?" Harry asked.

"Harry I'm your wife. I know you don't see me in a romantic way and I'm not the wife or girlfriend you want but the bonding is permanent. I am the only wife or lover you're ever going to be able to have," Hermione replied slightly sadly.

"Who said you're not the type of girlfriend I wanted. You're a terrific girl Hermione. You understand me better than anyone, you see me for who I am and you're brilliant and beautiful, why wouldn't I want to date you?" Harry asked.

"Harry you're sweet but you've never shown any interest in wanting to date me," Hermione replied.

"Of course, I haven't, you and Ron have fancied each other since fourth year. I wasn't going to ruin our friendship by trying to get into the middle of that," Harry replied.

"You're saying you fancied me?" Hermione asked.

"I'm saying I never let myself think about it since you didn't seem interested, and my best mate was," Harry replied.

"But Harry I've seen the sort of girls you like. Cho and Ginny are both tall and thin, athletic but still really pretty and girly, outgoing and lively," Hermione protested.

"You're just as pretty as them. Particularly since you had your teeth fixed, and you're thin too, just in a more feminine way. The night of the Yule ball you were one of the prettiest girls in the room," Harry said.

"Thank you, Harry, but that's part of what I mean. I made a huge effort to dress up and do my hair and makeup that night but I'm just not interested in doing that every day. I'm never going to be the type of woman who cares about makeup or the latest fashions," Hermione said, smiling a litte at the compliment.

"You don't need to be. I'm not interested in fashion either but your clothes always look nice when we're out of uniform and you're really pretty without make up," Harry replied.

"What do you want to do, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I thought we could start to date and build up to acting married," Harry said.

"We're already sharing a room but I guess we could pretend to date," Hermione agreed.

"Then would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?" Harry asked.

Hermione smiled. "Yes Harry, I would like to go to Hogsmeade with you."

Harry grinned. "That's great Hermione. What time would you like to go?" he asked.

"Shall we meet straight after an early breakfast before there's too much of a queue for the carriages," Hermione suggested.

"Sounds good," Harry agreed.

"But if you want to spend all day Saturday in Hogsmeade we have some essays to finish first," Hermione said getting out her books.

Harry sighed and sat opposite her at the table, and tried to concentrate on his own work.

-o0o-

George held Alicia's hand supportively as they and Fred arrived at the Burrow that evening. All three of them were worried about Molly's reaction to George and Alicia's marriage as well as what they had to say about Harry and Hermione. Molly never took criticism of her youngest two children quietly or well.

Alicia and George had discussed it, while they were already married and neither of them felt the need for an actual wedding they weren't so opposed to the idea that they wouldn't agree to it if it made their parents accept the marriage, so long as it was kept small, to close friends and immediate family only. Alicia would also have liked a quiet wedding but she knew that nothing the twins were involved in would ever be quiet. In fact, she would prefer just a dinner party without redoing the ceremony at all but she didn't think that would satisfy either of their mothers.

They walked in without knocking and found Molly in the kitchen.

"Hello Mum," Fred said.

Molly turned in surprise. "Boys, what brings you here? Can you stay for dinner?"

"Yes Mum, but there's someone special I would like you to meet," George said. "This is my wife Alicia."

"Congratulations, welcome to the family Alicia," Arthur said warmly from behind them, having arrived while George was making the introduction.

"Thank you, Sir," Alicia said smiling.

"None of that, I'm Arthur, at least until grandchildren come along, I'm looking forward to being called Grandpa," Arthur said gently. If anyone else had said it she would have felt pressured but the twinkle in Arthur's eyes just made it endearing. She had a suspicion that this is who the twins had inherited their pranking abilities from.

"Tell me about your family, I would like to meet them," Arthur asked.

"Well I'm the eldest of two, my little brother is a third year Hufflepuff. Both my parents are muggleborn and they met at St Mungo's Dad's a Healer and Mum works as a mediwitch in the maternity ward. Mum went to Beauxbatons, though her family are English, her parents were working in Paris when she was eleven," Alicia began.

"So you're not muggleborn, you could have taken the time to plan a proper wedding," Molly said disapprovingly.

"Perhaps but with two muggleborn parents I couldn't be sure I wouldn't be matched up in the first round of matches and with the alterations to the law George and I would both have been matched before Christmas anyway," Alicia said. "I don't think you understand how frightening it is to think you have no choice in who you're going to marry or to know that you'll probably be married to a pureblood and most purebloods look down on you and treat you like a second class citizen. Even some of the professors treated us like we were less than our pureblood classmates. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life being treated like that at home too."

"And you Fred. Did you rush off and get married without inviting your parents too?" Molly demanded sourly.

"No Mum. Angelina and I had just broken up and she decided that she'd rather move to Australia where she had a better chance of getting selected for a professional Quidditch Team than marry me," Fred said bluntly.

"She's a fool not to marry you," Molly stated.

"Perhaps but Quidditch is her dream just as the shop is mine and we weren't getting along that well even just dating. I can't say I'm eager for the ministry to match me but Angie and I really weren't suited," Fred replied. "Verity asked me to marry her today, she's muggleborn but was lucky enough that the law was changed before she had to turn up for her wedding. The man she's matched with had a daughter our year level in Slytherin. She was a pureblood who thought she was better than everyone around her so I can understand why she doesn't want to marry her father."

"But you don't love Verity," Molly said.

"I don't love the stranger they're going to match me with either and Verity's a great girl, got a terrific sense of humour and a mind for pranking. Smart too, and we get along fairly well. Not everyone is going to get to marry someone they love with this law in place," Fred said trying to sell the idea to himself as much as to his parents.

"Molly you're upset with Alicia and George, and Harry and Hermione for getting married and Fred for thinking about marrying Verity and now you're upset with Angelina and Ron and Ginny for not wanting to get married, you need to calm down and stop reacting emotionally without thinking things through. You can't rationally be upset at all of them," Arthur said.

"It's not Ginny's and Ron's fault that Harry and Hermione married each other instead of them," Molly declared, getting angry again.

"I heard about what happened with Ginny and Harry and how Ginny turned him down when he proposed poor guy," George said.

"You heard she turned him down? Ginny wouldn't do that, she's been dreaming about being Mrs Potter since she was a little girl," Molly said.

"Apparently when it came down to it a big white wedding with all her friends and family in attendance was more important than becoming Mrs Harry Potter," Fred said.

"Yeah, one of my best friends is a seventh year, said Harry was pretty upset that she broke up with him and took up with Dean Thomas again," Alicia replied. "Still I'm glad it's worked out for Harry and Hermione. They're better suited than Ginny, Harry likes peace and calm and the quiet life."

"But Ginny loves Harry," Molly stated.

"No I really don't think she does, she had a crush on the boy-who-lived, the saviour, she likes the attention of being the girlfriend of the-boy-who-lived, the school's celebrity but she doesn't seem to truly know Harry that well. I think if Harry wasn't famous she wouldn't have dumped Dean for him earlier in the year. Katie said she seemed happier when she was dating Dean," Alicia said exaggerating a bit. She really did believe that Ginny and Dean were better suited but that was irrelevant now Dean had broken it off with her when she refused to marry him too.

"You truly don't think Ginny and Harry made a good pair?" Arthur said more open minded.

"Harry hates yelling. He hates it when arguments turn into shouting and insults instead of trying to rationally sort things out. Ginny is too hot headed for him," Alicia said.

"Alicia's right, Harry always tried to make himself scarce when Ron or Ginny started yelling, and he practically looked like he wanted to hide under the table whenever Mum yelled," Fred said.

George also nodded. "Ginny turned him down, she wasn't ready to get married and he needed someone who was. You know he would do anything to save Hermione, is it any surprise that he married her when they didn't have anybody else," he said seriously. "You need to support him in his marriage, getting married all of a sudden is hard enough and Alicia and I were seriously dating and out of school. Harry loved Hermione as a friend, almost as a sister. It had to have turned his whole worldview on its head to marry her."

"But Ginny said that he married Hermione without telling her even though she was his girlfriend," Molly said.

"Ginny lied Mum. I don't know why but she lied. They'd broken up because Ginny wouldn't agree to marry him, and then she did the same with Dean, went out with him but refused to marry him," Fred said.

-o0o-

Night came after another day of the two of them pretty much ignoring the fact that they were husband and wife, but they couldn't ignore the fact they now shared quarters with only one bed. Harry awkwardly asked if Hermione wanted to use the bathroom before he showered.

"No thanks, I'm fine but you don't have to shower again unless you want to if you showered this morning Harry. Don't feel you need to on my account," Hermione said.

"I always showered at night at the Dursleys so I usually do. It doesn't feel right to go to bed without showering," Harry replied. That was true but he'd gone to bed plenty of times without a shower particularly days he'd already showered after quidditch he just wanted some private time since he wouldn't be able to have any later sharing a bed.

"That's fine Harry, I want to finish reading this before bed," Hermione said.

There wasn't a lock on the bathroom door but Harry had no doubt he could trust that Hermione wouldn't walk in since he'd told her he was showering. He just needed to be quiet because he didn't want to cast a silencing charm, Hermione might find it suspicious that she couldn't hear the water. It was odd to him to pleasure himself in the shower, the dorm showers really didn't have enough privacy to do it even with a silencing charm, it was just easier to seal and silence the curtains around your bed and magic made cleaning up afterwards simple. Silencing, curtain sealing and scourgify were the three spells just about every boy at Hogwarts mastered long before they were taught in class.

He stuffed a washcloth into his mouth to remind himself of the need to be quiet, not wanting to inflict bite marks on his body that might be seen in the quidditch showers.

He felt guilty about the fact that his mind relived the bonding sex with Hermione while she was sitting innocently in the other room having no idea he was wanking to thoughts of how she looked lying naked on the floor with her legs spread open for him or how good it had felt, but the truth was he hadn't managed to get off thinking about anybody else since their bonding. He told himself it was because thinking about Ginny and the softness of her breast through her shirt when she let him feel her up were spoiled by her selfishness and attempts to manipulate him by making sure he saw her kissing Dean the day after they'd broken up. He hadn't been aware she was trying to manipulate him at the time but after her reaction to him marrying Hermione compared to her indifference to Dean and Leanne's marriage made him suspicious. Though perhaps it was the vow of fidelity that was preventing him from fantasizing about anybody else, it wasn't as though he felt comfortable enough to ask anybody about it.

-o0o-

"Will the light bother you? I can shut the door," Hermione asked half an hour later as Harry came out of the bathroom and climbed into bed.

Harry smiled relieved she didn't seem to have noticed what he'd done in the shower. "No it's fine," he replied. The light didn't fall directly on his face and only the sitting room had a window and they'd both agreed they didn't really like the feel of the bedroom with the living room door shut and the bed didn't have curtains.

Harry seemed to be sound asleep when Hermione came in half an hour later and she tried to be quiet as she collected her nightie and made her way into the bathroom.

Hermione blushed when she realised why the bathroom smelled a little like the ritual rooms after they'd been used, and quickly got herself ready for bed trying not to picture Harry doing that in the shower. She climbed into the bed careful not to touch Harry in any way and lay almost on the edge where she couldn't feel the warmth coming off his body.

Hermione had been lying awake trying not to squirm for a couple of hours when she was disturbed by Harry starting to make distressed sounding whimpers and moving agitatedly. Realising that this was probably one of the nightmares he'd warned her about she rolled over and pulled him into a hug, whispering to him that he was safe and that it was only a dream.

Harry settled fairly quickly but when she went to pull away to her own side of the bed she realised that he had wrapped his arms around her too while she hugged him and he was not letting go. Sighing she closed her eyes and tried to get to sleep, trying to ignore how good it felt to be held.

They were still cuddled together when Harry awoke for Quidditch training the next morning and not knowing why Harry blushed furiously blaming himself before he quickly silenced his wand alarm and tried hard to extricate himself from the bed without waking Hermione or pressing his erection against her then hurried to the bathroom to take care of the problem.

Hermione didn't wake until Harry came back from training freshly showered in the quidditch change rooms and wearing his uniform.

"It's ten to eight Hermione, breakfast is about to start and we have potions first this morning. What time do you normally get up?" Harry warned her, collecting his books for the morning and checking that he had his homework in his bag.

"Seven, why didn't you wake me earlier?" Hermione said jumping out of bed. Harry averted his eyes when he saw how far her nightie had ridden up.

"I was at Quidditch training, I just got back," Harry replied. "I'll wait in the other room."

"No go on down to breakfast, grab me some toast to eat on the way to the dungeons," Hermione said.

"Okay, meet you at the grand staircase on the ground floor at twenty past," Harry replied.

"Thanks Harry."

-o0o-

Ron was still not speaking to them and Neville and Dean were acting awkward and standoffish, Seamus was giving Parvati all his attention which left Harry and Hermione pretty much on their own to face the schools biggest gossip, Lavender Brown who pumped them for information on their bonding and what it was like to live together.

"Harry's a lot tidier than you are, and a lot less noisy in the morning," was the only thing Hermione would tell her.

"Oh come on, you haven't told me anything?" Lavender groaned. "At least tell me what he's like to live with. Does he like living with you?"

"The rooms are very comfortable and it's easier to study in our lounge than it was in the common room most of the time and I definitely don't miss the other boy's snoring," Harry replied

Hermione looked at him grateful for the reprieve and resolved to try to avoid being alone with the nosy and indiscreet witch.

Harry on the other hand knew she'd just make gossip up if they didn't tell her something. "Hermione and I are happy together. We just wish other people could be happy for us."

"I noticed Ron's been avoiding you?" Lavender asked eagerly.

"I don't know why he's so upset, he didn't want to get married and he was grateful that she didn't have to marry Terrence Higgs," Harry said. "Perhaps he's lonely now that everyone is in couples and most of us have moved out of the dorm."

-o0o-

The first night set the routine for the rest of the week, the two of them cohabited peacefully. Hermione stayed up reading while Harry showered and got ready for bed and didn't come to bed until Harry seemed to be sleeping. One of the things that had changed though was that after the first few nights Harry genuinely fell asleep before Hermione came to bed.

Harry continued to have nightmares but Hermione's presence was able to calm him without waking him most of the time and even the night he woke up was nothing like waking up on his own and having to relive the horrors until his mind woke up and let them go. Every morning they woke up cuddled together and Harry was glad that he always woke first and was able to get up before Hermione woke and found his erection pressed against her.

For all their successful cohabiting and their decision to act like they were dating they behaved more like room mates than a couple most of the time. There'd been a few quick pecks in greeting or farewell but Hermione just wasn't the type to be snogging when there was work to do and for Hermione there was always more work to do, something new to research or another extra-credit assignment. Harry was hopeful that their date on Saturday would change things and help their relationship grow.

-o0o-

Harry and Hermione were on one of the first carriages to Hogsmeade joined by Padma and her husband Terry Boot.

"Hi, you're as eager to get out of the castle as we are?" Terry asked.

"Yes, though I'm not sure how much of the stress and fuss we'll be getting away from since all of the married couples have permission to come to Hogsmeade," Hermione replied.

"Is it as bad in Gryffindor as it is in Ravenclaw?" Terry asked. Padma rolled her eyes at him.

"I can't say, not having ever been in the Ravenclaw dorms but it is fairly tense. I spend most of my free time in the library or our rooms but I'm beginning to feel a bit like I'm trapped in there to avoid the fights. It doesn't help that Ron and Neville are both angry at Harry and I for bonding, especially now that they know they won't be able to avoid being matched up next year because they're purebloods," Hermione replied.

"Has anyone approached you about drawing another rune circle?" Padma asked.

"A few couples have asked how we managed to marry without leaving the castle and expressed interest if there is another rune circle but I told them it would cost 100 Galleons to have me do it. It took about thirty hours work for two people and it's difficult work both in terms of the accuracy required and the hours of squatting or bending, so I thought that would be reasonable and it wouldn't be too expensive if enough people wanted to share the costs," Hermione replied. "If someone takes me up on it I would be happy to split the work and the money."

"I'll start telling people that too, maybe suggesting five galleons per person and we'll draw it when there are ten couples that want it. That way if there are more than ten couples we'll get paid for maintaining the circle as well."

"You should also charge a bond which will be forfeit if the circle gets damaged because of their carelessness," Terry suggested.

"That's a good idea. Do you think any of the others would join in making and maintaining the runes?" Hermione said.

"Daphne and Tracy probably would. I think they've been cut off financially by their parents," Padma said.

"Katie might be too, she hasn't been cut off but I know her parents aren't wealthy," Harry said.

"I'll ask the others as well, if we get enough interest to do it," Hermione said.

"What do you want to do in Hogsmeade, is there anything we need to get done?" Harry asked.

"I need more quills and I'd like to go to the bookshop, what about you?" Hermione said.

"I need more owl treats and broomstick polish and I'm nearly out of chocolate," Harry said grinning.

"You could also use some decent clothes for when we're out of uniform," Hermione said.

"I wouldn't mind some new clothes but I'd rather have muggle stuff than anything I could buy here," Harry replied. "I also haven't wanted to buy myself new stuff because I couldn't wear it at the Dursleys without them demanding that I start paying board if I've got money."

"Why wouldn't you pay board if money's tight and you can afford it," Terry asked.

"Money's not tight, my uncle has a well paying job and my Aunt chooses not to work. I already do all of the yard work and most of the cleaning and laundry and cooking over the summer to earn my keep. Why should I have to pay as well, it's not like I cost them much money, they've never bought me new clothing or stuff, it's all stuff my cousin grew out of," Harry replied frowning.

"Is there anywhere that sells muggle clothing in Hogsmeade?" Hermione asked, more to change the subject than because she thought there would be.

"No, I've never seen any muggle things for sale anywhere, but you ought to go to the bootmaker, they've got some shoes that would pass as muggle and the comfort charms are out of this world. You'll never wear muggle shoes again," Padma said.

"We will have to check it out," Hermione said enthusiastically. She loved the look of pretty shoes but hated the way her feet felt wearing them all day and they were too impractical to wear around all the stairs at Hogwarts let alone during Harry's adventures. But more than that Harry needed shoes. Other than his school shoes his were completely falling apart. The rest of his wardrobe could be due to extremely poor taste trying to emulate the gangster rap look and could wait to be replaced but his poorly fitting shoes hurt his feet and wouldn't protect him from the cold weather coming.

"Let's do the most popular shops first before the crowds build up so starting with the sweet shop and the quidditch shop and pet shop, then the book shop and stationers then finish with the bootmaker," Hermione planned. "Then if we feel like it we can get some lunch and perhaps hang out with some friends before returning to the castle."

Harry nodded, the itinerary made sense to him too if he was trying to avoid his classmates, which they did. Tensions in the castle were running high, it wasn't easy for many of them to get used to being married. it was particularly hard for some of the muggleborns who had married out of desperation rather than genuine affection for each other, especially those who didn't know each other all that well before. Harry and Hermione were also working to make a go of their marriage though they were luckier than most having spent so much of the past five years together but it was still difficult to be surrounded by the arguments of the others. The tension seemed to be contagious.

A/N: Thank you to Child of Dreams, J.F.C, EnchantedPixie495, gabrieljuarezl, caughtinblackseyes, tyrannicpuppy, katmom, mwinter1, animeromance1972, BMS, Tyler'sPrincess, firebird-fenix, Ronin Kenshin, BadWolfJiggy, jkarr, Millie072, Jostanos, Village-Mystic, sucinquee, reader1writer1, Lientjuhh, Rori Potter, rb2312, daithi4377, mikanMD, Melikalilly, Firehedgehog, starboy454, Lady-Isowen, roon0, Moonsong78, EvanescoVeritas, PukwudgiePuff and all those who followed or favourited for your support.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

"Have you told your parents about your marriage yet?" Terry asked.

"No I wanted to tell them in person, have you?" Hermione replied.

"Yeah, they threatened to remove me from Hogwarts but I've written back explaining that it wouldn't make a lick of difference the marriage ritual we used guarantees I can never sleep with anybody else so if they separate me and Padma they will never have any grandchildren, and explained again what could have happened if I hadn't married Padma. I'm sure they'll come around, it must have been a shock to them but they did like Padma when they met her over the summer," Terry said.

"Parvati and I told our parents too, my father is incredibly angry about the new law and was proud of me for finding a way for me and my sister to marry who we wanted. It helps that Terry made a very good impression on them when they met," Padma replied.

"Well Mum and Dad seemed to like Harry from what they've heard of him but the only time they met was when we did our school shopping with the Weasleys before second year and they really weren't impressed with the Weasleys or the Malfoys or anything else that day. I don't think they got to know Harry in all the commotion," Hermione said.

"What about the other Gryffindors?" Terry asked.

"I haven't asked but from what we've overheard, it seems that most of the wizarding parents are being supportive but the muggleborns parents are shocked and upset by the law even if they're supportive of the way we got around it they're still upset by the fact we got married without them present or even meeting their husband or wife, and even more upset by the fact there's nothing they can do about it now," Hermione said.

"Dean said his mum and dad arranged to meet Leanne's mum and dad this weekend. They wanted to know what sort of family they came from. Dean and Leanne are freaking out about not being able to be there," Harry said.

Terry laughed. "Well they must have given their parents the other parent's address or phone number, what did they think would happen?"

"I don't think they intended to give their parents the contact for each other's parents, they just sent both letters with the same school owl with instructions to wait for a reply, and whoever got their letter first realised who the other letter was to and sent their own to them as well," Hermione said.

Harry chuckled as well, knowing that that was at least one hurdle he and Hermione wouldn't need to face, Harry didn't intend to tell his relatives anything about their marriage, in fact he was determined that Hermione was never going to meet his relatives no matter what she had to say about it. He didn't want her to have to deal with their abuse.

Harry took Hermione's hand as they got out of the carriage and found he enjoyed walking along holding hands with her. Ginny had always wanted to walk with their arms wrapped around each other which Harry found awkward or used holding his hand to pull him along wherever she wanted to go. Hermione had made a plan and they both walked together in the direction of their first stop, neither pulling or trying to hurry the other. The sweet shop went peacefully enough, though Hermione huffed when she saw how much chocolate Harry wanted to buy. She was surprised, Harry never seemed to eat many sweets but he always bought a lot. She had thought he was a secret late night snacker, which would have made sense seeing as his relatives hadn't let him have any snacks or junk food at home. She was surprised that he hadn't been snacking since they moved in together, he'd occasionally share some sweets with her but the level of snacks in his trunk seemed to remain the same other than that. She realised it wasn't necessarily to eat, that having food in his trunk was a form of security for Harry.

"I don't eat it all, I share it with the guys in the dorm and with you and Ginny, and someone helps themselves to it if I leave my trunk unlocked," Harry said.

"Then you don't need that much Harry, you're living with me not in the dorms and I don't eat much chocolate most of the time," Hermione reminded him. Harry obediently put half of it back, reminding himself he could always sneak out and my more when she wasn't there to get upset if he needed to.

Hermione was pleasantly surprised how quickly they were in and out of the quidditch store. It seemed Harry really did just need polish to care for his broom, he didn't bother looking at the new brooms on the market or any of the national team's fan paraphernalia like Ron always did even when he didn't have the money to buy anything, and the stationers and pet shop were equally quickly dealt with.

The bookshop took longer and Hermione felt slightly guilty about it even though Harry was happy looking at the defence books while he waited for Hermione to make her choices, but she noticed that he didn't buy a book.

"Nothing take your fancy?" Hermione asked curiously as they walked out.

"None of them were so amazing that I felt the need to have them. I haven't finished reading all the defence books in the school library and I don't know what is in the family vault that I can't access until I'm seventeen so it seems wasteful to buy books," Harry replied.

"Well I hope you won't think it's wasteful to buy new shoes, because I can't wait to throw those ones in the bin," Hermione said.

"I wouldn't mind having new shoes but I'm going to keep these ones to wear at the Dursleys I case I'm sent back there," Harry replied.

"Surely you won't need to go back there again if you don't want to now Voldemort's dead?" Hermione said confidently.

"Voldemort was dead last summer too, and his inner circle are all in prison? It didn't make any difference, besides I had nowhere else to go until the Weasleys invite me at the end of the summer and I don't suppose they'll be doing that this year," Harry replied.

"You're my husband. You will come home with me," Hermione said.

Harry almost told her not to make promises that she couldn't keep but he didn't want to start an argument, he'd deal with it when the time came.

The boot shop was small, dusty and cramped but the shoes were everything Padma had promised they'd be. There weren't any shoes as muggle looking as trainers but Harry managed to find a nice pair of brown leather boots and a pair that looked a bit like Doc Martins that he loved. Hermione fell in love with a pair of suede boots with a three-inch heel that felt like she was walking in flat shoes. Harry wasn't so sure he liked the fact that her boots made her slightly taller than he was unless he had his Doc Martin boots on.

"We owe Padma a thank you for pointing out this place to us," Hermione said. "Will these charms work for a muggle, my mum injured her ankle a couple of years ago and has pain if she stands on it too long."

"They should do Miss, you'd have to get the dragonhide if you wanted the charms to last without ambient magic though," the bootmaker said.

"Mrs Hermione Potter," Hermione introduced herself smiling. "I think she'd like these ones in the black, they'd pass for crocodile and they're sedate enough for work and dressy enough to wear out if she wants. I'll get them for her for Christmas."

"Would your dad like shoes too?" Harry asked.

"He'd love shoes with these charms but most of the Dragonhide would stand out too much and Dad wouldn't be seen dead in what looks like crocodile hide shoes," Hermione replied.

"I have just the thing for him, these inner soles have all the standard comfort charms and they'd fit inside any shoes he wants," the bootmaker offered. "Do me a favour though and don't tell any purebloods that I'm making insoles to go in muggle shoes. I'd lose their business."

"We won't," Hermione said fervently. They ended up buying a pair for themselves and both Hermione's parents, for Harry to give them for Christmas.

"Shall we brave 'The Three Broomsticks'?" Hermione asked.

"I am hungry, it can't hurt to pop in for a moment and check out the atmosphere," Harry agreed.

"But lunch at Hogwarts might be calmer if all the senior students are in Hogsmeade."

"If it seems too tense, we'll leave," Hermione promised but from what I've seen Madam Puddifoot's seems to be doing a roaring trade with couples in and out," Hermione said.

"Yeah but they might be trying to avoid the tension at 'The Three Broomsticks' too," Harry said pessimistically. He couldn't see any other reason a male would willingly set foot in the place, though he knew several boys who did.

Hermione laughed, Maybe, we'll see."

The Three Broomsticks' was crowded with students but mostly those too young for the ministry's marriage act to affect yet and most of them seemed to have taken on the attitude of ignore it and hope it goes away before they turn seventeen, which Hermione thought was naive but Harry pointed out to her how much worse things might be at school if the fourth and fifth years had decided to try to bond. Hermione shuddered at the idea. "Most of them wouldn't have succeeded," she replied.

"And that failure now might have prevented them from trying again when they needed to, like Neville," Harry said.

"Neville was never going to succeed when two of his top three choices bonded with other people and the third refused to bond. He wasn't going to feel strongly enough about a fourth person, so it's probably a good thing that he didn't keep trying," Hermione said. "If we do make another Rune Circle, at least we will know more about how to predict who will succeed and who shouldn't try."

"Neville wouldn't have succeeded last time when he thought being pureblood would prevent him being affected by the act for another seven or eight years, it might be different now he knows he's going to be matched next year," Harry said.

"He's still a pureblood, he isn't going to be matched with someone who believes he's less human than they are, and I think after last time the oaths the matchers took will make sure the couples really are magically compatible," Hermione replied.

"There's a lot more to a successful relationship than magical compatibility," Harry said.

"Yes but from what we've seen it takes more than the honest desire to bond to the other person for life as well if that desire hasn't come from real feelings, or even sometimes if it has but they didn't know each other well enough and lack the maturity to work through the initial difficulties. I wonder how many of the couples at Hogwarts would be divorced by now if it were possible," Hermione replied.

"We will never know but I don't think it would be as many as you think. Everyone would still be worried about who the ministry would match them with," Harry suggested.

"Better the devil you know?" Hermione asked wryly.

"That's a lousy way to look at marriage and the choice of the other parent of your children but basically yes I think that's how some of the couples feel," Harry said.

"And you?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"No Hermione, I'm still not sure I feel like I'm old enough to be married but if I got to choose anyone I wanted to marry I would choose you," Harry said.

"And I would choose you, but I do understand about not feeling ready. I hadn't planned to think about marriage before I finished university or an apprenticeship and was established in my career and now I will have to put all that off to have a baby," Hermione said slightly bitterly.

"If you have a burning passion for what you want to be when we grow up and I don't it would make more sense for me to stay home with the baby until they're old enough for school, or we could use muggle childcare and both work. I don't expect you to become a stay at home mum," Harry said. "I honestly think Petunia could have been a happier and therefore nicer person if she had a job outside the house and something else to do other than gossip and worry about what the neighbours were saying about us. I would never force that small closed in life on anyone."

Hermione laughed. "Staying home like that particularly when the children were at school all day would drive me around the bend. I just couldn't do it," Hermione admitted.

"I would never expect you to. Just as well the bond didn't work for you and Ron then, he wants a wife just like Mrs Weasley," Harry said lightly.

"Except he also wants a wife who has enough money that he doesn't have to work too hard," Hermione added.

They both laughed. "I don't think the ministry match organiser is going to take that into consideration," Hermione said.

-o0o-

By returning to the castle early Harry and Hermione were able to get a carriage to themselves on the return trip. Harry used the opportunity to kiss Hermione the way he'd wanted to all week. Hermione kissed back willingly enough, even starting to snog him until he tried to pull her onto his lap for easier access. She pulled back a little resisting moving and Harry stopped in confusion.

"Is something wrong?" Harry asked.

"I didn't enjoy the sex, when we bonded," Hermione admitted miserably. "I'm sorry, I know you enjoyed it but it was just horribly uncomfortable."

Harry had to admit he was a little humiliated that Hermione hadn't enjoyed it and more that he'd enjoyed it so much that he hadn't even noticed she didn't and disappointed that if she didn't like it, it wasn't likely to happen again until they had to start trying to have a baby. But her comment didn't make a whole lot of sense to him, he wasn't planning on doing anything more than snogging in the carriage, he wouldn't disrespect Hermione like that.

"Is it just sex you don't like, or do you dislike kissing too?" Harry asked.

"I like the kisses we've shared but if you mean snogging, I've never tried it," Hermione replied.

"Ron didn't snog you before the ritual?" Harry asked surprised.

"No neither did you," Hermione reminded him.

"That's different, we were friends. I thought he fancied you. He's certainly been acting like I stole you from him," Harry said.

"You haven't tried to snog me since then either," Hermione said.

"You made it seem like it would be unwelcome, sometimes I thought you didn't really want me to kiss you at all," Harry replied.

"I have liked your kisses, I'm just a bit wary about where it's leading," Hermione admitted.

"I would never do anything that you didn't want me to do," Harry said hurt at her apparent lack of trust.

"I know Harry but I wouldn't want to get your hopes up and let you down. I'm not a tease," Hermione replied.

Harry laughed though there was no real humour in it. "You're the furthest thing from a tease I could imagine."

Hermione didn't reply and picked up one of her new books to read but Harry couldn't stop thinking about the conversation.

"Maybe we just didn't do it right. I did tell you that I didn't know what I was doing," Harry said quietly voicing his biggest fear about the whole thing that he was just hopeless at it and it was his fault Hermione was hurt, because he knew she'd only described it as uncomfortable to spare him the guilt of hurting her.

"If you're about to suggest that we just need more practice I'm going to throw something at you," Hermione said crossly.

"That's not what I meant, Hermione. I'm not trying to convince you to have sex if you don't want to. I wouldn't do that. Honestly though, maybe we did something wrong or there's something we should have done to make it feel better and we just don't know what or how," Harry tried to explain.

"I don't know Harry, maybe it's just me," Hermione said doubtfully.

"There's no reason to think that," Harry said frowning. "All the ladies in Aunt Petunia's movies all enjoyed it.

"That's acting Harry," Hermione said scathingly.

"I know that Hermione but the movies wouldn't all show women enjoying sex if most women didn't. Otherwise it would make people feel bad about their own relationships and not want to watch the movies. Maybe we should get a book about it or you could ask your mum," Harry replied. He was a little surprised that Hermione hadn't already read books like that with her never ending need to know everything about everything.

"There's nothing in the library or on the bookshop in Hogsmeade, I've already looked, not that I'm surprised since most witches and wizards can't talk about it at all. I could try at home but I can't see myself buying that sort of book while we're out shopping with my parents, especially if they are still unhappy about our marriage, and the bookshop within walking distance is run by a sweet old lady older than my grandmother and more gossipy than Lavender, I just couldn't," Hermione said.

"Yeah okay," Harry said letting the subject drop.

He continued to kiss Hermione whenever they were alone and they gradually progressed to snogging but Hermione withdrew immediately every time she realised he was aroused, even after he told her not to worry, he was more than happy to wait and take care of it himself later.

-o0o-

The next time Harry had a free hour while Hermione was in class he snuck through the secret passageway and floo'd from 'The Three Broomsticks' to 'The Leaky Cauldron' and out into the muggle world. He'd seen a large bookshop near there on his way to purchase condoms for his classmates (and himself if he had to be honest though it didn't seem like they'd ever be used now).

Even if he never showed the book to Hermione he needed to know if he'd done something wrong. And he needed to work out how to do it right because eventually they would have to try to have a baby and he couldn't bear the idea of hurting Hermione again. He found several books which he looked through quickly, most seemed to be more about how to try different things and positions not how to do it properly in the first place. Blushing furiously he went and asked the store clerk for help, this was even more embarrassing than buying ten dozen condoms. Luckily she was able to direct him to a couple of books and the bookstore bags were opaque, hiding the contents until he was able to get back to Hogwarts where he could shrink it before leaving the tunnel from Honeydukes.

-o0o-

After the trip to Hogsmeade, Harry insisted on having a date every weekend, even if it was just a walk or a picnic. It was too cold to sit outside but Harry came up with the idea of asking the room of requirement to give them a grassy meadow in the summer sun though the details around the edge were a bit blurry. Hermione suggested using a memory of somewhere he'd been and Harry turned the room into their favourite spot near the edge of the black lake. The next week Hermione used the room to show him her favourite park near her house, and one in Paris where hare parents liked to holiday. Harry followed it up by recollecting the clearing they met up with the Diggorys the morning they went to the world cup.

"You never show me anything near your home," Hermione commented.

"I don't remember my home in Godric's Hollow. I've never been taken back there since I was a baby," Harry said quietly.

"I meant Little Whinging, isn't there anywhere there you used to like to go?" Hermione asked.

"Nowhere pretty, there's a couple of places I'd go to hide from Dudley and his friends but they were chosen mostly because Dudley couldn't get through the hole in the fence or squeeze between the plants and the concrete barriers," Harry replied.

"Nowhere that you went on school trips that you want to share?" Hermione asked.

"I didn't get to go on school trips, even the ones that were free they used to keep me home so Dudley could enjoy himself without me spoiling it. I went to the zoo once though, I could try to show you that," Harry replied matter-of-factly.

"How did they explain your absence on all school trips?" Hermione asked, saddened that his relatives could be so petty but also surprised they got away with it.

"The teachers didn't care. For them it was just one less kid to look after. I don't think the Dursleys would have sent me to school at all if they hadn't been careless enough to let the neighbours see me," Harry said calmly. To him this was just part of everyday life, missing excursions wasn't anywhere near the worst thing that happened to him most days but to Hermione being forced to miss an educational opportunity was dreadful.

The next time Harry took her to the hut on the island where he'd received his Hogwarts letter and told her the whole story of the number of letters the school had sent leading to Vernon's mad attempt to escape. The beach was in dull with heavy clouds blocking the morning light and lashed by bitterly cold rain because this was Harry's only memory of the place. Hermione cast impervious charms to keep them dry as he insisted on trying to walk along the shore in spite of the wild waves. "This is the only time I've ever seen the sea," Harry admitted.

"We will go to the beach properly this summer, it's something you should experience for the first time in reality not in here, I don't want your first impressions coloured by my memory of the place," Hermione said, trying to search her memory for a beach to show him. Unfortunately, all her recent beach trips were to European beaches crowded with topless sunbathers and she didn't want to show him those, even though she couldn't admit even to herself exactly why. Perhaps she could convince her parents to take them to Brighton or somewhere in England for the day or the weekend.

"I'd like that," Harry agreed.

They left the beach and returned to their room for hot showers.

-o0o-

Sharing a room and a bed had also brought about more familiarity between the two of them. They were aware of each other's routines and respectful of them when they could be but there came a day when Hermione couldn't wait to use the toilet and after knocking heavily burst into the bathroom while Harry was showering, and Harry got more than one quick glance at Hermione's bare legs as she climbed out of bed in the morning, or her breasts pressed against the fabric of her nightdress as she brushed her hair in the evening now he wasn't pretending to be asleep when she came to bed. He was also aware of Hermione watching his bum as he bent to add wood to the fire in his pyjamas last thing before bed and occasionally if she was awake first thing in the morning.

Harry also appreciated how Hermione's nightgown tended to ride up during the night as he awoke with their legs tangled together, only his sleep pants separating their skin. Hermione didn't seem to mind, the few times she woke up before he moved away she just calmly rolled over and got up without saying anything and her manner seemed unaffected.

A/N: Thank you to Rc0321, katmom, soapcat3372, caughtinblackseyes, Ronin Kenshin, daithi4377, Firehedgehog, BMS, Ghostisreading, mwinter1, J.F.C, jkarr, Komorebi, Tyler'sPrincess, mooneysfate, Melikalilly, Jostanos, Rori Potter, Lientjuhh, gabrieljuarezl, Village-Mystic, tyrannicpuppy, rb2312, HeartsGlow, starboy454, N7SPARTAN-Commander-Jay117, mikanMD, Beyondthesea16, Guest and all thise who followed or favourited for your support.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Hermione had insisted that Harry must accompany her home for the Christmas holidays. He didn't know what she had told her parents to get them to agree to having him because they'd never invited him or Ron before and he knew she hadn't mentioned their marriage, wanting the opportunity to explain in person. He wouldn't have minded if she wanted to go home and explain things on her own but he also understood that she wanted his support.

Harry was understandably extremely nervous meeting Hermione's parents again. He'd only met them briefly while doing his school shopping with the Weasleys before second year and he didn't think they'd been very impressed with any of them that day.

It turned out that Hermione had told them she was bringing a friend home with her without telling them who she'd invited, or mentioning the pertinent detail that this friend was a boy. As a result, the adult Grangers were already unhappy with the situation before they even brought up the emergency marriage act or the step they had taken to protect Hermione from a potentially abusive marriage. Harry was also upset with Hermione over this, it wasn't fair to him or to her parents to have his presence thrown at them without warning, and he'd had more than enough Christmases where he hadn't been welcome. He would have preferred to stay at school. He pulled his hand from hers.

"You brought home a boyfriend without telling us?" Daniel Granger asked unhappily. He was ready to leave the boy there at the train station. "Boy, have you got enough money to get home?"

"I don't have a home to go to. My relatives aren't expecting me," Harry didn't offer further explanation and the Grangers just assumed that his family were away from home.

"Do you have another friend you can stay with?" Daniel demanded, refusing to back down.

"No Sir, but I have enough money to catch the Knight bus back to school," Harry replied, trying to look confident and unhurt by Hermione's father's reaction.

"Do you have enough for two tickets? I didn't bring any Galleons with me," Hermione asked, grabbing his hand again and holding on tightly so Harry couldn't let go without an effort.

Harry looked surprised but nodded hesitantly. The Grangers looked shocked.

"You would go back to school with Harry instead of coming home for Christmas?" Emma said heartbrokenly.

"It's not my home if Harry isn't welcome there!" Hermione stated bluntly.

Surprisingly the next protest came not from her father who was too busy trying to control his temper and fear that he'd lost his daughter, but from Harry. "No Hermione, don't do this. You can't lose your family because of me."

"Trust me Harry, you're as important to me as they are," Hermione said gently.

"Now wait a minute. You are not going to blackmail us like that, Missy! Go and get in the car with your mother. I want a word with Harry," Daniel ordered.

"There's no blackmail intended Dad. I am returning to Hogwarts with Harry. All our friends went home for the holidays and I won't leave him alone to worry," Hermione said more calmly than she felt.

"Worry about what?" Emma asked.

"Worry about whether Dad has calmed down yet and how he is treating me," Hermione said bluntly.

"Why would he be concerned about that? We've never mistreated you," Emma said offended.

"You both just refused to let the only friend I've ever invited home into the house, what is he supposed to think," Hermione asked snarkily.

"That we are responsible parents who are unwilling to have a boy we don't know staying in our home with our daughter while we're sleeping or at work," Daniel snapped. "Christmas is supposed to be a time for family."

"And just what do you think is going to happen at home that couldn't happen at school while you're a thousand miles away?" Hermione asked sarcastically.

"Hermione…" Daniel started.

"No Dad. I've never been so humiliated in my life. Harry and I are going back to Hogwarts and WE will see you at Easter break," Hermione said showing how upset she really was.

Emma went to wrap her arm around her but Hermione jerked away and buried her head in Harry's shoulder.

"Hermione we are sorry, but you should have told us that the friend you wanted to bring home was a boy," Emma said scolding.

"You do realise that my two best friends have always been boys," Hermione said tiredly.

"That's no reason to assume we'd know you had invited one of them. You've never asked to have either boy stay before," Emma replied.

"That's because until now Harry's movements have been restricted so he couldn't come to visit and Ron knows nothing of the muggle world. I think he'd be afraid to come over and stay," Hermione said. "Of course I have other friends, even some new ones this term, but Harry is the only person I'm close enough with to want him to come for Christmas."

"We don't even know him," Daniel said.

"That's not the point. You've never even met any of my friends other than Harry and Ron, but you were happy to have one of them stay," Hermione countered. "Besides it's as much your fault as mine if you feel you don't know him. He's been my best friend for more than six years. You've met him before today but you barely bothered to say hello."

"You are coming home. Any more rebellious behaviour from you and we will discuss whether you will be grounded for the summer," Daniel growled.

"You forget that I'm seventeen. I'm an adult in the wizarding world," Hermione said.

"You're still financially dependent on me," Daniel said.

"I don't have to be," Hermione said. The headmaster had waived Hogwarts fees for any students who refused to continue to support their children now they were married, particularly those who got married because they had already been matched by the ministry before the corruption was exposed.

"What do you mean you don't have to be?" Daniel asked derisively. "You surely don't think Harry's going to be able to support you."

"No, I'm sure he would if necessary but there's a scholarship fund for students whose parents disown them or refuse to let them compete their magical education," Hermione replied. "Of course, I would have to cut all ties with you to qualify but if it comes down to Harry and Hogwarts or being miserable trying to catch up nearly six years of muggle education in Crawley and ending up in a dead end job because there's no way I could get into university, then it's not really much of a choice."

"Hermione don't! Please! I'm not worth giving up your parents for. Go home and explain what's going on when they're ready to listen or let's go and you can write to them, but don't stand here making threats that you don't want to have to carry through," Harry begged.

"Let's all take Harry's advice and try to calm down. We'll all go home and have a nice cup of tea and clear the air because I am not giving up Christmas with our daughter because of your overprotective attitude, Daniel Granger!" Emma said determinedly, realising as Harry had if she didn't step in between Daniel and Hermione things might be said which wouldn't be forgiven or forgotten once their tempers calmed down.

Daniel took it for the order that it was and nodded. "I suppose one night couldn't hurt. We can bring you back here to catch your bus tomorrow," he agreed as they began walking towards the car.

"No need, the bus will pick me up from anywhere in England or Scotland, I just have to stand on the edge of a road and stick out my wand," Harry said.

"So, what has been going on at Hogwarts this term?" Emma asked as they began their two hour journey to Crawley.

"School itself has been fine but there's things going on in the ministry of magic that are affecting things. Please I can't explain this while you're driving," Hermione said nervously.

"Find a café to stop at," Emma said.

"No this is wizarding stuff we can't talk about it in public. Please just let's get home and then we can have a rational discussion," Hermione almost begged. She could have set up privacy charms in a café but she was worried that this was another attempt to delay letting Harry into their home in the hope that they could talk her out of demanding they let him stay with them or returning to Hogwarts with him before Christmas.

"Very well then, let's go straight home," Emma agreed before starting a conversation that would hopefully calm her husband and daughter down a little. "What can you tell me about the term. Are you still top of your class?"

"Yes Mum, in everything except Defence Against the Dark Arts where Harry has me beat by miles, he has a natural gift for it, and Herbology where Neville is almost a prodigy, the same as always. I spent a lot of my spare time the last two months completing a special project for Ancient Runes, learning about rituals and how to draw ritual circles and how the strings of runes interact with each other and with the ritual chants and movements to add power to each other."

"That sounds interesting, what sort of rituals did you study?" Emma asked.

"Well we learned a little about a lot of different rituals. The more powerful ones require blood sacrifice. The wards at Harry's relatives would be blood runes, very powerful because they were based on his mother's willing sacrifice, and there are a lot of very dark rituals involving the unwilling sacrifice of blood, animal creature or human. We also looked at protection rituals, an ancient bonding ritual, healing rituals. The circle we drew took two or three of us about forty hours to complete," Hermione named the rituals she'd come across while researching more about the bonding ritual they were going to use. She was hoping having some of this background knowledge of how hard she'd worked to find an implement the solution would help when they found out about the ritual they'd used to bond.

"What makes you so good at Defence Against the Dark Arts, Harry?" Emma asked.

"Quick reflexes and good aim, mostly. I can pull my wand out cast a shield or fire a spell, hit the target and line up a second person quicker than anyone else in my class," Harry replied.

"He also has more power than most if not all our class so his shields hold up better and he can break an opponent shield easier than the rest of us," Hermione said.

"So, it's not about knowledge or book learning?" Daniel asked.

"No in fact, nobody in our class knows more spells than Hermione but having more spells to choose from doesn't really help in a duel," Harry replied.

"Just like knowing the Latin name for a plant and all its uses in potions doesn't give me the instinctual knowledge of what care they need that Neville has, his plants just thrive and sometimes he can't even explain how he knows that they need something specific that isn't in the Herbology textbook, or even goes against the textbook in some cases, he just says the textbooks are wrong or that this is an exception they haven't included," Hermione added sighing.

Hermione and her mother made light conversation for the rest of the journey, Emma telling Hermione the news about their extended family, a lot of things she'd already mentioned in her letters until they arrived home and settled at the kitchen table, Emma made tea but didn't offer snacks and Daniel made it clear that Hermione needed to explain herself.

"Why didn't you tell us who you wanted to bring home for Christmas?" Daniel demanded.

"I need to explain what's going on in the wizarding world before I can explain that," Hermione said hesitantly.

"Why?" Daniel snapped.

"Well if I jump in to the explanation at the end it won't make any sense to you, I need to start at the beginning and that's not me inviting Harry home for Christmas," Hermione said. "Have you been reading 'The Daily Prophet'?"

"No, you said it was mostly propaganda so we stopped getting it?" Emma replied while Daniel just glared at Harry. He was even more upset by the reminder that this was the boy the newspaper had declared a dangerous dishonest lunatic and attention seeker, and how protective Hermione had been about him when she read it.

"Then you won't have seen this," Hermione said pulling the front page from the first of November out of her bag.

Emma read it quickly and passed it to Daniel. "You have to get married? Who to? Harry?" she asked shocked.

"No, it wasn't Harry. They matched me to a pureblood bigot about nine years older than me. But we kind of found a way around it. We found a way to get married before the ministry could force us to, so we could choose who we spent the rest of our lives with," Hermione said.

"So, you brought your future husband home to meet us?" Emma asked looking worried. She was aware they hadn't made a very good impression on Harry and hoped he wouldn't change his mind about marrying Hermione and leave her with the wizard the ministry had chosen for her.

"Or is he your husband already?" Daniel demanded.

"Yes Dad he is, we couldn't wait, my appointment to get married at the ministry was three weeks ago," Hermione said.

"And you couldn't tell us before the wedding, we would have met you somewhere to attend," Emma asked shocked and disappointed.

"To try to talk me out of it," Hermione retorted.

"To try to come up with a better solution," Daniel stated.

"There was no other solution, believe me we looked, there were about thirty of us affected by the new law at the time and we all searched everywhere we could," Hermione said. "Even leaving the country or snapping my wand and forsaking magic might not have stopped the portkey charmed letter from delivering me to my forced wedding ceremony."

"And you couldn't ask us to the wedding because…?" Emma asked.

"We couldn't risk the invitation being intercepted. We had real problems with mail being intercepted by the ministry last year," Harry said wanting to give Hermione an out so she didn't have to admit their marriage was done by a sex ritual.

"We also couldn't draw attention to what was going on by leaving the school like that. If the ministry got suspicious of what we were up to they might have stepped in and stopped the rest of the students having a chance to form a marriage bond too. It wouldn't have been fair. Not to mention that the rune circles took too much work to draw one outside of Hogwarts," Hermione said.

Daniel turned to Harry, "Give me one good reason I shouldn't kick you out of here and withdraw Hermione from Hogwarts!" he demanded.

"The wedding ritual we used binds us both to unbreakable fidelity. She could never marry anyone else or even have an affair with anyone else. I know you don't like it that Hermione got married so young but she really truly didn't have a choice. Separating us would guarantee your daughter spends the rest of her life alone and childless unless we manage to find one another again, and if you did that I would be arrested in three months' time and imprisoned until Hermione was found. Hermione would also be arrested and sent to Azkaban for three months if she ever set foot back in Great Britain," Harry replied resignedly, using the argument Terry Boot had told him worked on his own parents. Unfortunately for Harry the difference was he was there in front of them and Daniel and Emma Granger didn't have days to absorb the information and form a rational response.

"What? Why?" Daniel yelled.

"The emergency marriage act was brought back to guarantee an increase in the population, Hermione and I have to start trying to have a baby as soon as she leaves Hogwarts. If she isn't pregnant within three months of her leaving, they will either imprison us for lack of trying or force feed us fertility drugs if we can prove we have been trying unsuccessfully," Harry explained.

"Please understand that this isn't Harry's fault. I married him to get out of the match the ministry chose for me. I asked him to marry me, Harry didn't propose and give me this ring until later that night before the ritual," Hermione begged.

"Why would the ministry match be so much worse than this boy? At least the ministry match would have been able to support a wife," Daniel asked looking at Harry in his worn-out jeans and ill-fitting jumper and raggedy flannelette shirt worn as a jacket, totally inadequate for the cold temperatures of December in London.

"The matches were being made by one of the worst pureblood bigots not to have joined the Death Eaters, and Hermione's chosen match was also one of them and a misogynist as well," Harry replied.

"What does that mean?" Daniel demanded.

"Pure blood bigots believe that witches like Hermione and my mother aren't as good as the rest of the wizarding world because their parents and ancestors didn't have magic. The Death Eaters were a terrorist group who believed in torturing and killing families like yours. Terrence Higgs also believed witches were only useful for breeding, he wouldn't have let Hermione finish school or have a job let alone the post graduate training she wants to do. She'd have a baby each year until she produced a son with strong magic or died trying," Harry said bluntly. "He's also a terrible bully and sadistic, I was surprised he didn't become a death eater."

Emma began to cry.

"Don't worry Mum, I married Harry to escape that. We will still need to produce a child the year after I graduate Hogwarts and another within five years but Harry will support my desire to attend university or accept an apprenticeship and become a working mother," Hermione tried to reassure her.

"You'll never fall in love," Emma said heartbrokenly.

"Well I'm still hoping that I'll fall in love with Harry one day," Hermione said practically.

"But what if you don't, you're still stuck with him. You'll never have the thrill of being romanced or the excitement of planning your wedding or the choice of who to spend the rest of your life with," Emma said.

"I did have that choice and I chose Harry. We can still have a proper wedding the summer after next when we finish Hogwarts before we have a baby. It would have to be in August after Harry turns eighteen though," Hermione offered to soothe her parents' concerns about what people might think if Hermione appeared to be an unmarried teenage mum at eighteen."

"Would you want to do that?" Emma asked.

Hermione looked at Harry who shrugged, indicating that he didn't mind either way. "We didn't really have a wedding this time and it wasn't something we felt like celebrating, it was an emergency measure. I think I would like a proper wedding to celebrate starting our adult lives together," she said carefully.

"It would be a muggle wedding, would your friends be able to behave and act like muggles? I won't have our minister, family or friends obliviwhatsit," Daniel said sternly.

"Well our best friends lately are the other muggleborns who were trapped with the same awful futures we were and who helped with the research and drawing the rune circles for the marriage rituals. Most of them and their partners would fit well in the muggle world," Hermione replied.

"What about those Weasleys?" Daniel asked uncompromisingly.

"They're the nearest thing Harry has to a family, we are on the outs at the moment but I'm sure they'll come around. It will be up to Harry if he invites them, I won't deny him the right to invite the people he cares about just because he doesn't have a family," Hermione said generously.

"Considering that our marriage is the reason they're not currently talking to us I don't really see the need to invite them. Even if we're getting along again by then the wedding would probably stir things up again," Harry replied. "I would like to invite Remus though and his wife Tonks."

"What do your parents do for a living Harry?" Daniel asked.

Hermione frowned at her father.

"My father was an Auror, a magical policeman, or given that we were at war at the time more of a magical soldier, nobody ever told me if Mum had a job after Hogwarts, but I do know she was a stay at home Mum after I was born until she was killed," Harry replied.

"Do you not listen to me talk about my friends?" Hermione demanded crossly.

"Of course, I do princess," Daniel said confused.

"Then I'm positive you must have heard me mention a dozen times over the years that Harry's parents were killed by Voldemort when he was a baby. He's famous for surviving the attack, and I just finished telling you that the Weasleys were the closest thing he had to a family," Hermione retorted unimpressed.

"I'm sorry, Harry" Daniel said abashed. "Who do you live with?"

Hermione scowled at her father at this question too. "If you listened to me, you would know. I've been worried about Harry staying with his relatives for years," she growled.

"I lived with my mother's sister up until now but, I don't plan on returning there. I had to stay until now for protection the blood wards gave me against Voldemort and the Death Eaters but Voldemort is dead and most of the worst Death Eaters have been rounded up. I'll be able to defend myself against the rest once I turn seventeen," Harry replied.

"Do you have plans where you are going to stay?" Emma asked.

"I'll stay at 'The Leaky Cauldron' or at my godfather's house until I turn seventeen and receive my inheritance," Harry replied aware that an invitation from the Grangers wasn't likely to be forthcoming.

"Once you receive your inheritance will you be able to afford a house and to support a wife?" Daniel asked.

"I already own my godfather's house, but it will take quite a bit of work to make it properly habitable," Harry replied. "I think I own the ruins to my parents' house in Godric's Hollow too but Sirius said the house blew up so it probably needs pulling down and rebuilding, even if the dark magic hasn't polluted the land."

"Why do you own your godfather's house?" Daniel asked.

"He was killed in the battle at the ministry last June, he didn't have children of his own his parents and brother were deceased and he wasn't on good terms with the rest of his family," Harry said bluntly.

"And I told you that too," Hermione huffed.

"Where is the house?" Emma asked.

Harry tried to answer, then shook his head. "It's in London, about twenty-five minutes' walk from the ministry of magic."

"It's in Farringdon, the wards won't let us say the actual address, I stayed there with the Weasleys the summer before last" Hermione said.

"So even though it's run down the land value itself would be worth something," Daniel said.

"If we could alter the wards to let people see it," Harry said.

"But if you own the house, don't you control the wards?" Emma asked confused.

"No, I don't. The house was used as a safe house for the order during the war. Dumbledore added to the wards. As head of house Black I can take control of the Black family wards once I'm seventeen and I can demand that control of the wards Dumbledore has added be handed over to me or the wards be dismantled now that the war is over," Harry replied.

"Have you told your relatives about your marriage?" Emma asked.

"No," Harry said without offering any explanation.

"Do they have contact with the magical world, do they know about this new law? Would they approve of it?" Daniel asked.

"Are you kidding, my relatives don't want any contact with witches or wizards and they would be furious that the government is trying to increase the number of witches and wizards in Britain," Harry said laughing.

"Your relatives would be angry that they're trying to increase the birth rates by forcing teenagers to have babies, not upset that they wanted to marry you off to some stranger?" Emma asked curiously.

"No, the fact that I'd have to marry someone who isn't going to love me or want me any more than they did would be the only part of the law that they would approve of," Harry replied dryly. They took me in unwillingly when my parents were killed because the wards protected them too. They're afraid of magic and they hate any mention of magic or the wizarding world, which is why I'm not planning on going back there unless Dumbledore has a damn good reason for it that he's prepared to share with me."

"You're not old enough to live on your own," Emma scolded.

"Why not? I've been looking after myself for as long as I can remember. I did all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, gardening and home maintenance for the last ten years. The only thing I didn't do without help was the shopping because I couldn't drive the car and it was too far to walk without the ice-cream melting before I got home and Petunia likes to gossip with the other shoppers," Harry replied. What he didn't say was that he hoped by then Hermione would want to stay with him.

"Is there anybody you want to visit or anything you need to do while you're here?" Emma asked.

"I need to go to Gringotts but I can take the Knight Bus to get there," Harry said. "After that Hermione has promised to take me shopping. If I'm not going back to the Dursleys then I don't need to worry about them accusing me of stealing if I get new clothes and I'd rather have muggle clothes than robes."

"Glad to hear it. I have nothing against magic but I cannot understand why they're so determined not to fit in with the rest of the world," Daniel said.

"It's the purebloods, they disdain anything and everything non-magical so of course muggles couldn't do anything better than they can," Harry replied dryly.

"Well as much as Hermione has told us about you over the years, she's never mentioned if you have any allergies? Or any foods you don't like?" Emma said questioningly, making sure that Hermione and Daniel both knew she had been listening to her daughter talk about Harry for years.

"No Ma'am I'm not allergic to anything that I know of and I eat everything put in front of me, but my Uncle refused to eat anything but plain British foods and that seems to be all Hogwarts serve as well, so my exposure to spices and things is pretty low," Harry said. He'd heard Hermione and Padma talking about hot curries and comparing that to other chilli dishes and was a little wary of some of the foods they'd described.

"Call me Emma, Harry. Have you tried pizza?" Emma asked.

"No Ma'am, Emma," Harry replied.

"What toppings?" Emma asked turning to Hermione who knew about pizza topping options and Harry's normal food choices.

"I think Harry will like one with the lot, he eats a lot of vegetables when we get some that haven't been overcooked, and maybe BBQ meat lovers," Hermione said diplomatically suggesting her father's favourite pizza as well as the one she really thought Harry would love.

A/N: Thank you to J.F.C, Ghostisreading, katmom, Rc0321, mwinter1, Melikalilly, Ronin Kenshin, The Wandmaker, jkarr, starboy454, BMS, Lientjuhh, delia cerrano, KrisB-71854, Tyler'sPrincess, daithi4377, caughtinblackseyes, tyrannicpuppy, roon0, .Wonderland.8510, Jostanos, Rori Potter, mckertis, KrystylSky, Beyondthesea16, flame55, HinataMorningstar, mikanMD and all those who followed or favourited for your support.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Dinner arrived and Harry decided he quite liked pizza though he wished his stomach wasn't still tied in knots from the stress of the afternoon. It made it difficult to eat enough to stop Hermione from worrying about him.

Emma had asked Harry questions about school and classes and Hermione had encouraged him to try to explain Quidditch to her father.

"Dad loves sports but I couldn't explain Quidditch in a way that made sense to him," she admitted frowning. She hated not being able to impart knowledge.

"That's because it's incredibly exhilarating to play but it really doesn't make sense to watch for anyone with common sense," Harry replied. "It's as if they put two or three separate games together to make them more exciting without thinking it through properly. Firstly, the chasers game is similar to basketball on broomsticks with three vertical hoops rather than one horizontal one so the keeper is basically playing football goalie on a broom, then the seekers are playing a version of hide and seek or chasey with the snitch and then the Beaters game is like an extreme version of poison ball with a cricket ball but they've given them baseball bats for some reason. Because the snitch is worth so much and catching it finishes the game, the team with the best seeker almost always wins. Even at the World Cup. The Irish chasers are clearly the best in the world, their beaters are arguably second best only to Italy who have identical twins in the positions and their keeper is probably top three or four in the world as well but they still came within seconds of losing to Bulgaria who if it wasn't for their seeker wouldn't have got through the elimination rounds."

"From Hermione's description it also sounded insanely dangerous," Daniel said, glad he hadn't totally misunderstood Hermione.

"It can be more dangerous than football, partly because a top of the line broom can accelerate to 60 kilometres an hour in under seven seconds and has a top speed of about 100, and even the school games are played about 20 metres off the ground, but remember that magic can heal pretty much any injury very quickly, so long as the player lives long enough for the healers to reach them and they have the right potions on hand, and there are spells to slow down a falling player and soften the ground under them. The biggest danger would be a head on collision with another player or a direct bludger to the head or neck," Harry replied.

"Don't the players wear helmets?" Daniel asked.

"No, even the beginner flying lesson doesn't use helmets or protective gear or spells and I think that could be just as dangerous," Harry replied.

"So magic could heal a severed spinal cord?" Daniel asked.

"I think so, there's a nerve regeneration potion," Harry replied looking at Hermione for clarification.

"It would depend on how it was severed but spinal cord damage from a fall or collision yes it would take approximately a week if it was treated straight away. Injuries from dark spells and magical creatures are more difficult to heal, and often leave scars but simple accidents in class are almost always healed by the next morning," Hermione said.

"They're actually healed quicker than that. Madam Pomfrey just keeps us in hospital that long so we don't overexert our magic since most healing requires the patients magic more than the healers," Harry said.

"So how long to heal a broken bone?" Emma asked thinking about the six weeks in plaster and

further two months of limping when she broke her ankle a few years ago.

"About two or three minutes to fix a simple break, or about twelve hours to vanish and regrow the bone from scratch," Harry replied.

"Why would you need to regrow a bone?" Emma asked. "Would it help me with my foot?"

"Mostly if it's shattered into too many small pieces its safer to vanish the lot, heal the muscle tears and regrow the bone but it is painful, I had to regrow bones once after an idiot vanished all the bones in my left arm accidentally, it hurt but it regrew good as new, better even, all the old aches and pains were gone," Harry said, not realising what he was revealing.

"I don't think the potion would work for you, it uses the person's magic to activate the healing," Hermione said gently.

"I hope he was given detention for it," Emma said, sighing disappointedly.

"No actually, the idiot was a professor," Harry replied dryly, grinning when Hermione huffed at him.

"If catching the snitch ends the game, how do you know if a professional game is worth going to see, it might be all over in ten minutes and how do the networks know how much time to schedule or how much advertising they should sell?" Daniel asked.

Harry frowned thoughtfully for a moment. "It's a bit of a gamble," he offered grinning. "Ron says that's what makes going to a game so exciting. The wizarding world don't have media networks like the muggle world. There's only one radio station and there doesn't seem to be pre-recorded adds or as many companies and products to advertise. I don't know quite how it works. But the game doesn't have to fit in with the network timeslots like muggle games do, the wizarding wireless just broadcasts the game until it's over. All games start on a Saturday and Ron told me if you work at the ministry and were lucky enough to have tickets to a game that is still going on Monday you automatically get time off until the game is over, so a lot of people bring a couple of days' worth of food and blankets and things to every game."

"I've never heard you and Ron listening to a game," Hermione commented. "Or anyone else, come to think of it."

"McGonagall banned listening in the common room before we started at Hogwarts. Apparently there were too many fights. We mostly listen up in the dorms," Harry replied.

"Is there a time limit on school games?" Daniel asked.

"You know I don't know the answer to that. The longest game I've played in was only about two and a half hours. The school snitch doesn't move as fast as a professional snitch so it's easier to see and catch," Harry replied.

"Some of the Hufflepuff Ravenclaw games while you were in detention have gone four or five hours," Hermione said.

"But they weren't called off when it started to get dark?" Daniel asked.

"No the stadium is actually really well lit since the tri-wizard tournament but apparently before that they used to call the game off for the night when it got dark and restart it the next morning," Harry said.

Emma let the conversation go on glad that the two males were even communicating though she couldn't understand Daniel's fascination with all sports, particularly one he'd never seen. "Perhaps the two of you could go to a game one day," she suggested.

"You really do need to see it to fully understand," Harry agreed. "I could ask a friend to find out where the nearest game to here will be."

Daniel hesitated, the sports fan in him wanted to see this confusing new sport but the father in him didn't want to give in and accept this interloper into the family so easily. "Can you afford it?" he asked pointedly looking at Harry's wardrobe.

"Yes, I can. I was very frugal with my trust account at the start, nobody explained to me that it wasn't my entire inheritance. And the Dursleys would have demanded that I hand it all over to them in return for the cost of having me in their house so I couldn't wear clothes that let on that I had my own money and a lot of the people at school would've looked down on new muggle clothes nearly as much as they do these clothes and we're in uniform most of the time so there didn't seem to be much point in buying new things," Harry replied. He realised that this was why Hermione had been so disappointed not to be able to buy him new clothes when they went to Hogsmeade.

He saw Emma glare at him.

"I would like to see a game," he said.

Harry wasn't fooled, Daniel still didn't want him around Hermione, he was making the effort to appease his wife. But Harry didn't want Hermione to have to choose between him and her father so he continued to play along.

"It's a winter sport so there should be a game during the break," he said.

"Do you still have your omnoculars? Would the world cup still be on them?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, in my trunk at Hogwarts," Harry said.

"Well perhaps you could show Dad that game when we come home at Easter or in June," Hermione suggested smiling at her father sweetly.

"That's actually a good way to see your first game, you can slow down the plays on it to see what's going on and zoom in on the chasers or the seekers and replay bits. The actual game was unbelievably fast to watch," Harry said.

What football team do you follow?" Daniel asked.

"West Ham, one of my dorm mates was a mad supporter and I wasn't allowed to watch games and stuff at my relatives so that was my first real introduction to the sport," Harry replied. His Uncle and cousin were mad Crystal Palace fans but he didn't want to have anything in common with them.

"Sheffield United for me. Have you ever been to a game?" Daniel asked.

"No. I've never even seen a whole game on the telly," Harry admitted. "We played a bit in primary school but I was too small to be much good at it."

"I played in high school, I got a lot of popularity for being on the team. I guess you would know all about that from quidditch," Daniel replied.

"I've made some great friends among my team mates but I was famous for surviving the killing curse as a baby. Every student in the school knew my name the minute I got there," Harry said with a grimace. "I would say that it's more notoriety than popularity though, and people who turn on you at the drop of a hat because the papers have told lies about you or your team lost a game or they have suddenly decided that they are in love with your wife, aren't worth befriending."

"You seem to have it much worse than I did but I did lose a few friends when girls they liked flirted with me and wouldn't give them the time of day, and I hated going back to school after we lost a game we should have won," Daniel sympathised only a little unwillingly. He was finding that in spite of everything he did find the husband Hermione had brought home more likeable than he would have expected.

Emma signalled to Hermione and they cleared up the plates and things.

"I think Daniel will let Harry stay for now but I'm going to set him up in the guest room and you're going to stay in your own bed. Hopefully if Daniel sees that you're not going to do what he fears, he won't send Harry back to school in the morning," Emma said.

"Thanks Mum," Hermione said doubtfully.

Hermione dragged Harry out for a trip to the local shopping centre wanting to show him around the area where she grew up. "I also want to get you some new clothes before we go back to school," Hermione said, subtly reminding her father that unless he changed his mind she would be accompanying Harry back to Hogwarts the next day.

Emma decided that she and Daniel would join them and drove them to the shops. Daniel frowned when Hermione's first stop was the bank where she used her card to withdraw money to buy Harry a new wardrobe.

Emma elbowed him when he started to protest, but Hermione noticed anyway.

"Harry buys me things when we go to Hogsmeade. It makes sense that we use my money here in the muggle world and his in Diagon Alley to avoid the exchange fees at Gringotts," she snapped.

She dragged Harry to a mid range department store and started collecting clothes for him to try on. "We need to find out what size you are, try these and come out and show me," Hermione ordered.

Emma was impressed that Harry didn't argue or complain. He tried on outfit after outfit until Hermione declared herself satisfied. She could see that he didn't really understand why she'd rejected some clothes and chosen others but he let her have her way, protesting only at the amount of clothing she wanted him to buy. She finished off with buying him a warm woollen coat. The styling was slightly too old for him, intended for young professionals, but would fit in at Hogwarts better than the younger fashions would have, and probably be warmer.

Daniel was also impressed at his attitude to his daughter but quite angry when he realised that Hermione was able to buy Harry underwear without asking his preferences. Harry had blushed a little but he hadn't objected or corrected her, even when she threw some long sleeve thermal tops and leggings in as well, encouraging her to buy some for herself as well.

"You didn't buy him shoes," Emma said as they walked to the car laden with bags.

"Harry doesn't need shoes. We can get shoes and boots that pass for muggle fashion in Hogsmeade that are charmed to be far more warm and comfortable than any shoe we could buy here," Hermione said.

"Would they be like the potions that require your magic to power the charms or would they work for your mother?" Daniel asked. He was aware that Emma was having difficulty with the hours she needed to spend on her feet while working and had encouraged her to cut back her hours but his wife was too stubborn to agree.

"I asked the cobbler, he said that they'd work for you but that he'd have to make them out of magical material like dragon hide for them to work more than a couple of months," Hermione said.

"And I suppose Dragon hide would stand out?" Emma asked.

"Not for ladies' shoes but too much for traditional men's shoes," Hermione agreed.

"That depends on the dragon. But even the ones that the colours wouldn't stand out look more like snakeskin than leather," Harry replied.

"So, your boots are leather then?" Emma asked.

"Yes, I love them, the cobbler recommended that I wait another year to make sure my feet won't grow before I buy dragon hide boots, since I couldn't tell him if they'd grown in the past year," Harry replied.

"If you haven't grown out of your shoes, then your feet haven't grown," Daniel stated.

"My school shoes have resizing charms on them, not growing out of them only means my feet haven't grown more than three sizes, and I'd had my trainers since I was eleven," Harry replied.

"Oh you wanted new trainers," Hermione said preparing to turn around.

"I don't need them Hermione, my boots are more comfortable and I can run in them just fine," Harry protested.

"We can get them another day," Emma said.

Hermione looked at her searchingly, then nodded. It seemed that one of her parents at least had come around to the idea of Harry staying for Christmas, and for all his posturing as the head of the house Hermione knew that her father usually ended up doing whatever it was his wife wanted him to do.

"Let's go home then," Hermione agreed, taking Harry's hand again once they were in the car.

Once they got home, and Hermione insisted on putting Harry's new clothes straight through the wash so they'd be ready to wear or pack in the morning, Daniel showed Harry to his room on the ground floor and he decided to have an early night, to give Hermione some time alone with her parents. He easily convinced Hermione that he was just worn out from the emotions of the day. He still didn't feel entirely welcome and he was surprised how much it mattered to him. He would've thought that after the Dursleys he was so used to being unwelcome that Daniel's polite but cold reception wouldn't have worried him. Instead it cut like a knife that Hermione's family felt like that and it was only partly worry that it would affect Hermione's relationship with her parents.

Daniel for his part was glad that Harry had the insight to know he wanted to spend some time with Hermione on her own. "So, tell me how things really went at school this term, Princess?" he asked his daughter.

"I've already told you most of it," Hermione replied frowning a little.

"What made you choose to marry Harry?" Daniel asked.

"Who else would I marry, Harry's been my best friend since first year and he's always had my best interests at heart. I admit that it's taken a bit of adjustment to see him in a romantic light but I trust him more than I trust any other wizard on earth," Hermione managed to stop herself before she admitted to trusting Harry to act in her best interests more than any man on earth. That wouldn't have gone down well with her father even if it was true.

"So you didn't have romantic feelings for anyone else?" Emma asked gently.

"I thought I did for Ron. I certainly convinced myself that I fancied him, though I can't really explain it now. Harry has always been a much better friend and Ron and I don't really have anything in common except for our friendship with Harry," Hermione said. "He seemed to fancy me too, which Harry never did. But there's a world of difference between fancying someone and being genuinely willing to commit to a permanent relationship with them. I'm glad now that it didn't work between me and Ron."

"I understand that you must have been hurt by Ron's rejection but to jump straight into a relationship with Harry sounds more like desperation than love," Emma said questioningly.

"I do love Harry, I always have. He's always come first in my thoughts and his needs have always been more important to me than Ron's and everyone else. Not the basis for a successful relationship with another boy was it?" Hermione said depreciatingly.

"Perhaps not on the surface but it takes time for someone to become truly close to you. Most girls your age would tell you that their friends are more important to them than the boy they're dating," Emma said.

"Of course, most of those friends would be girls so it wouldn't cause the same problems with jealousy," Daniel added.

"I was never jealous of Harry's relationship with Ginny, I just wanted him to be happy," Hermione said.

"So, you never had thoughts that she wasn't good enough for him, or that you could make him happier than she could?" Emma asked.

"No, I didn't like some of the things she did, how she was always dragging Harry to be the centre of attention when I knew he hated it but overall he seemed happier with her than he had been before they got together," Hermione replied.

"Happier than he is now?" Emma asked worriedly. If the boy was still in love with his ex-girlfriend then encouraging Hermione to want more than friendship from her husband was only going to lead to heartache.

Hermione thought back over the last few weeks since their date in Hogsmeade, "No he's happier now too. He's been nervous about meeting you and I know he'd like more snogging time but he doesn't seem to miss Ginny at all," she said surprised. Thinking back, she noticed that he also seemed less tired and healthier than he ever had. Even less stressed as if the weight of the world had lifted off his shoulders though he she'd known he was worried about her parents' reaction to their marriage. She realised that these were the changes she'd expected to see after Voldemort was killed last June but they'd only seemed to happen recently for some reason.

"And you? Are you actually happy being married to Harry? Or are you merely relieved that it isn't someone worse?" Daniel asked.

"I like being married to Harry, it's been awkward sometimes adjusting to seeing each other differently, and being treated differently by our former friends but I'm happy when I'm with Harry," Hermione admitted.

"And if you did stay here for the holidays without him, would you miss him? More than just being were worried about him, would you be less happy because he wasn't here?" Daniel asked.

"I'm always less happy over the summer because I can't talk to Harry, that isn't new but yes I think I'd miss him more than I would've in the past." Hermione said.

"Why couldn't you talk to him over the summer. He lived with his muggle relatives, surely they have a telephone?" Daniel said.

"They do. They just wouldn't let Harry use it, particularly not to contact a friend from Hogwarts," Hermione said.

"Honestly Hermione, how bad for Harry is it there?" Emma asked.

"He says they hate him. He's said in the past after the battle in the ministry that they'd be furious that he didn't die. He has marks on his back that look like they were made by a belt, and he mentioned being kept in a cupboard until he was eleven in spite of the fact they had a spare room to give him," Hermione said, feeling guilty for betraying Harry's secrets like that but aware that her parent's needed to understand that Harry truly didn't have any other family but Hermione.

"So he is serious in his intention to live alone over the summer," Daniel said.

"He won't be alone. I will be with him," Hermione replied determinedly.

"I suppose you want us to invite him to stay here for the summer?" Daniel asked.

"Harry seems quite happy with the idea of doing up his godfather's house. London is only an hour away by train and a few seconds once I learn to apparate so I could still come and visit you if I stayed with him," Hermione said.

"We better get to bed, it's late and we work in the morning," Emma said.

Hermione got up, knowing her father wouldn't go to bed until he'd seen her walk upstairs and get into her own bed. "Goodnight, I love you," she told her parents, hugging them tightly.

A/N: Thank you to jilumasam, Rori Potter, Cecily Mitchell, katmom, Firehedgehog, Tyler'sPrincess, HinataMorningstar, Rc0321, daithi4377, Jostanos, jkarr, Melikalilly, flame55, Millie072, Beyondthesea16, J.F.C, KrisB-71854, starboy454, Ash, .Wonderland.8510, mwinter1, rb2312, tyrannicpuppy, Ghostisreading, Lientjuhh, caughtinblackseyes, , gabrieljuarezl, BMS, Son of Whitebeard, mother oracle, Village-Mystic, mikanMD, mooneysfate, Kreaacher and all those who followed or favourited for your support.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Harry woke up screaming, the nightmare the worst one he'd had in ages. Hermione ran in and hugged him fiercely as Dan and Emma stood hesitantly in the doorway. Harry realised that she was the reason he hadn't been having nightmares lately.

"Is everything alright?" Emma asked.

"It's fine Mrs Granger. I'm sorry for waking you up. It was just a nightmare, there's nothing wrong," Harry said apologetically.

"That's okay Harry, would you like some hot chocolate to help you settle back to sleep?" Emma asked.

"No thanks Mrs Granger, my stomach feels kind of queasy. A milky drink wouldn't be a good idea," Harry declined.

"Tea then, I have some nice ginger tea that should settle your stomach," Emma offered.

"You should try it Harry it might help," Hermione encouraged.

Harry gave a reluctant nod. "Thank you Mrs Granger."

"Do you have nightmares like that every night?" Emma asked.

"Umm, yeah sometimes," Harry admitted awkwardly. He couldn't admit to the Grangers that he'd had the nightmare because Hermione hadn't been in bed cuddling him. "It's not a problem at school where I can use silencing charms to keep from waking everyone else up."

"But if nobody hears you, then that means nobody is there to help," Emma said concerned.

Harry just shrugged, until he'd married Hermione and they'd started sharing a bed, he'd never realised that having someone there when he woke up from a nightmare would help. He'd only had a few nightmares since he started sharing a bed with Hermione and her hugs always helped him calm down and get back to sleep. Or he thought he'd only had a few nightmares, not realising that he just didn't remember them because most of the time he woke Hermione as the nightmare started and she was able to calm him down and redirect his dream before he woke himself up.

Hermione found that she missed sharing a bed with Harry, she found it hard to sleep, without his warm presence next to her the bed felt cold and too big. Her parents had insisted that he stay in the guest room and she in her own room while they were there. Hermione was irritated that they tried to control her sleeping arrangements even though they knew she was married but Harry was happy to comply so Hermione wouldn't leave and miss Christmas with her parents. She'd wondered whether he was looking forward to having nights on his own.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Hermione asked, once they were alone.

"It started with Sirius falling through the veil, and then he stood up and I could see him though the silvery curtain and he told me that it was my fault. That if I'd killed Voldemort in the graveyard like I was supposed to then he would still be alive, and then Cedric was there saying the same thing, and Mum and Dad said they were disappointed in me for not saving Sirius," Harry said crying.

"Oh Harry, it was just a nightmare. I'm positive Sirius didn't blame you for his death any more than he blamed James for his incarceration, you did your best and nobody could have asked you to do more than that. If anything Sirius' death was his own fault. He wasn't concentrating on the duel, he was having fun taunting Bellatrix instead of getting on with it," Hermione said hugging him to her and running her hand up and down his back soothingly. She held him until her mother came back with the tea then helped him sit up encouraging him to drink it. And then to lie down and try to sleep.

Harry looked at her nervously.

"Lie down, I'll sit with you until you fall asleep," Hermione promised running her fingers through his hair.

"Thanks Hermione," Harry gave her a small smile and closed his eyes doing his best to relax. He found her playing with his hair was surprisingly enjoyable and relaxing. Against his better judgement he drifted off to sleep.

"Do you comfort him from a nightmare often?" Daniel asked as she came back up the stairs.

"No as he said he normally uses a silencing charm so nobody hears him, but he doesn't try to go back to sleep on his own, he gets up and wanders around the castle and ends up exhausted," Hermione replied, thinking back to before their marriage when Harry often looked more tired at breakfast than he had before going to bed.

"How long has he been having nightmares?" Emma asked.

"Since his mother was murdered in front of him when he was one," Hermione said bluntly. "They got worse after his godfather was killed in front of him at the battle in the ministry last year and a classmate the year before that. Even still some of his nightmares are about his childhood with his relatives so I can only guess how bad it got."

"It sounds as if Harry's a dangerous person to be around," Daniel said frowning.

"His parents, godfather and Cedric were all killed by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Harry killed Voldemort last June and the Death Eaters were all rounded up this time and most of them have been tried and executed. The minister tried to pardon a lot of them last time and Harry threatened that if he tried to pardon them again he would give his memories of fighting them to the newspapers and the wizarding wireless," Hermione replied.

"Harry killed a man?" Daniel asked in horror.

"No Harry killed a monster, a leader of a terrorist organisation that was responsible for thousands of deaths. And it was self defence, Voldemort was trying to kill Harry at the time. Don't you dare judge him for killing him. If he hadn't you and Mum would be in hiding for your lives and I would be fighting a war. A war that couldn't be won until Harry did kill Voldemort because he was prophesied to be the only one that could," Hermione said fiercely.

Daniel Granger took a step back, he'd never seen his daughter so furious. Even when she'd been threatening to go back to school with Harry that afternoon it had seemed to him to be more teenage petulance than genuine anger at his and Emma's reaction to Harry. But there was no doubt in his mind at that moment that if there was a war Hermione would be fighting it at Harry's side, defending him from everyone who meant him harm. The problem was at this moment the person she was defending Harry from was himself.

"Give his memories, you mean tell the reporters a detailed story of what happened?" Emma asked.

"No there's a device called a pensieve. You can use magic to pull a memory out of your head and you and other people can watch it. I'm not sure if you could take a camera into the memory and take photos," Hermione explained.

"So you could show us some memories of learning magic?" Emma asked. She and Daniel had been fascinated by some of the spells Hermione had shown them or used casually without even realising it since she'd arrived home but they'd love to watch her learning a spell for the first time. Harry hadn't done any magic but they'd seen him reach for his wand to do things then stop himself several times.

"If I had a pensieve, they're fairly rare and they'd be really expensive if you could buy one," Hermione replied. "I could ask Harry to teach me a spell but most of the spells he knows that I don't are for duelling so unless he can teach me how to put up the protection wards, they're a little too destructive for use at home. Now I'm going to bed to get some sleep before the arguing and the tension in the house gives Harry another nightmare."

-o0o-

Harry and Hermione decided to go to Diagon Alley the next day while her parents were at work. Harry was tired but he didn't think it would get much better sleeping alone and he couldn't ignore Daniel's relieved expression when he mentioned going out for the day instead of remaining home alone.

Hermione came with him to Gringotts and Harry introduced Hermione as his wife and asked if being married gave him access to the Potter family vaults.

"It does not, but an exception will be made for the Potter family wedding rings if you would like them brought up to choose a set for you and your wife to wear," the goblin account manager told him.

"Yes please I would," Harry said eagerly.

The account manager sent one of his underlings for the rings. Hermione looked pleased but protested that he didn't have to, she was perfectly happy with the ring he'd already given her.

"The family rings will have more protections for your wife than that little trinket," the account manager said, talking directly to Harry and sneering at the glass ring Hermione wore.

"Can you tell me what protections are on each of them or are they all the same?" Harry asked.

"They are not the same," the account manager said.

The goblin came in with a tray of rings.

"Is one of these my mother's?" Harry asked curiously.

"That one," the account manager pointed out an emerald and diamond ring. "Your father was a naïve romantic. The ring has strong protection charms against magical curses but no fidelity or loyalty charms or charms against the mind arts."

Harry noticed Hermione's eyes were drawn to another ring a large ruby solitaire set in filigree gold.

"What about that one?" he asked pointing to it.

"It has the strongest mind protection, loyalty and fidelity charms, the wearer could not betray you, willingly or unwillingly, the protections from curses is the strongest invented at the time but it could be got around by someone who knows what protections are on it," the account manager said approvingly.

"Who would know?" Harry asked.

"No human other than you and your wife would know for certain. The ring hasn't been worn in centuries but anyone from an ancient family might recognise the age of the ring and therefore assume the limitations of its protection," the goblin manager replied.

Harry looked at Hermione. "I know you would never betray me. I don't need a ring to stop you but the protection from mind control or Legilimency might be useful. If you like that one then go for it. We can find another piece of jewellery to enchant for more physical protection."

"You don't want me to wear your mother's ring?" Hermione asked.

"I have no memories of her wearing it so it isn't that special to me, if you'd rather have the other one, I'm fine with it," Harry replied.

"Who owned the other one?" Hermione asked.

"It was first commissioned by Warin Potter for his first wife Rohesia Potter from 1326-68 and then worn by her great grandson Gulielmus Potter's wife Elizabeth from 1370-1422" the account manager reported.

"Is there a reason it hasn't been worn since?" Harry asked.

"Superstition. Gulielmus and Elizabeth had no children, his younger brother became head of the family, a barren marriage was considered unlucky, by the time Guliemus and Elizabeth had been forgotten fashions had changed and diamonds became the preferred stone in wedding rings," the account manager replied.

"It is beautiful, but your mother's ring matches your eyes," Hermione said.

"And mum's ring has better physical protections but no mental protection, it's your choice to make. Choose the one that will make you feel the most safe," Harry said.

"I think this one," Hermione indicated the ruby ring. "The thought of someone messing with my mind frightens me more than anything else."

Harry picked up the ruby ring, and grabbed Hermione's left hand sliding it on. "With this ring I pledge my love, loyalty and fidelity, for as long as we both shall live," he said stating what he remembered hearing of muggle wedding vows.

Hermione kissed him gently. "I pledge my love, loyalty and fidelity for as long as we both shall live," she replied.

"Is there anything else," the account manager asked impatiently.

"Sorry for wasting your valuable time, can you have someone show me to my trust vault and exchange some money to pounds?" Harry said getting up and bowing.

"You don't need pounds Harry, there's plenty left in my savings account," Hermione said.

"I need to pay you back for my stuff," Harry protested.

"Then pay me back in Galleons and save the exchange fee because I'll probably need to exchange it back to Galleons to buy books and top up my stationary," Hermione said reasonably. "I'll make sure Dad sees that you've repaid me."

"Griphook will take you," the account manager said dismissively.

Harry and Hermione left the room to find Griphook waiting for them. He took them down to the vault, and Harry collected a large bag of coins to buy presents and pay for his new clothing. He and Hermione took the opportunity to stop at Florean Fortescue's Ice cream parlour for magical hot ice-cream and then planned to stop at Flourish and Blott's before returning home to Hermione's.

Harry noticed that Hermione was eagerly looking at books but seemed to be reluctantly putting each one back on the shelf instead of in her basket.

"Are you looking for something in particular?" Harry asked, slightly confused as to what she might be looking for in so many different sections of the shop.

"No Harry, if you won't buy books for yourself then I won't let you buy books for me. You're right that you might already have most of these in your family library," Hermione protested.

"What about if you buy whichever of these was written in the last fifteen years. Surely some of them must have been, this is a new book shop," Harry suggested.

"Harry all bookshops have older or classic books, not just new releases," Hermione said.

"Yes I know, they have classic fiction and history books but the technical books and scientific books are all written in the last year or two or they'd be obsolete and there's lots of new fiction and history published every year. Isn't it the same for magical advances and books?" Harry asked.

"The wizarding world doesn't advance that quickly and unlike muggle books none of these will have copyright dates, saying when the first edition or first print run was released," Hermione said.

Harry frowned. "Every time I think I understand the differences between muggles and witches and wizards I come across a new difference. No wonder wizards cling to their old-fashioned ways if there's not even new spells and things to learn," he said sighing.

He took the books from Hermione and asked the store clerk which of these books had been written in the last fifteen years but the young man just sneered at him rudely. Harry shoved the armful of books at him. "Well then if you can't be bothered to answer my questions you can re-shelve these for us. Perhaps the staff at the bookshop in Hogsmeade will be more forthcoming and better informed about their stock," he said.

"What seems to be the problem," Mr Flourish appeared from behind a nearby shelf.

"These trouble makers are pulling out books without planning to buy any," the shop clerk said.

"On the contrary I wanted to purchase whichever of these books was written in the last sixteen years so I didn't inadvertently buy a book that is already in my library but your clerk couldn't be bothered to find out if any of them were," Harry said annoyed.

Mr Flourish glanced at the boy, then recognised him not only as the saviour of the wizarding world but as the future head of an old family whose mother had for a time been one of his best customers as she tried to modernise the Potter library, and the boy was also accompanied by one of his best younger customers as well. It wouldn't do to let either of them leave feeling slighted or dissatisfied with the service. "Indeed Mr Potter, your mother did purchase a great many books to bring the Potter library up to date so let's take a look at these," he said placatingly. He went through the books rapidly before shoving three quarters of them back at his shop assistant.

"Re-shelve these, they are not what Mr Potter requested, and in future if you cannot answer a customer's question you need to come and ask me," he ordered in a tone of voice that promised a further scolding once out of customers hearing.

"Yes Sir," the young man slunk away grumbling to himself, and Mr Flourish rang the books up and Harry cheerfully paid the bill.

"Can we take the train home?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"I don't know, would the train deliver us home in time to be there before your parents start to worry?" Harry asked in reply.

"Probably not," Hermione admitted. "In fact, we should go. You'd never realise that we fought a war from the way they were acting this is just about the first time they've let me go out on our own."

"Do they know you fought a battle at the ministry?" Harry asked.

"Well yes, I had to tell them to explain how I almost got cut in half. The wound was still healing and pretty noticeable when we arrived home for the summer," Hermione replied.

"Did you tell them about all our other adventures?" Harry asked.

"No, I was afraid they'd try to pull me out of Hogwarts and send me back to muggle school," Hermione admitted.

"So, as far as your parents know, you fought one battle in which you were almost killed. It's no surprise that they worry, I'm astonished that they let you come to Diagon Alley without them at all," Harry said gently.

"I wish we knew how to apparate or had a floo connection," Hermione said sighing.

"We're going to learn next term," Harry said encouragingly.

-o0o-

Emma arrived home not long after they did. Harry was cooking lunch and beginning the preparations for the dinner he wanted to make the family as a thank you for letting him stay.

"You don't need to cook for my parents Harry," Hermione said. "They don't expect you to become a slave for them in return for a roof over your head."

"I know that Hermione, and I'm not going to offer to do all of the cleaning but I quite enjoy cooking and I don't get a chance at Hogwarts," Harry replied.

"What are you making?" Hermione asked.

"Chicken Cordon Bleu with roasted sweet potato and steamed vegetables, then apple crumble for dessert," Harry replied.

"That sounds lovely Harry, it's a real treat to have the night off cooking thank you. But Hermione is correct we don't expect you to work for you keep," Emma said.

Emma was even more grateful for Harry being busy in the kitchen, giving her the opportunity to talk to her daughter alone while Daniel was still at work. She had been looking for ways to find time alone for a woman to woman conversation. Her little girl was married in circumstances she'd never thought could happen to her and she needed to find out more about how she felt about it and their relationship. She motioned Hermione that she wanted her to come with her.

"I'm going to go talk to Mum for a while. Call if you need help with something," Hermione said.

"Okay Hermione, go have fun with your mum, I'll be fine," Harry said smiling.

"I doubt it will be much fun. Mum's probably going to give me the third degree about our relationship," Hermione said rolling her eyes.

"Call me if you need rescuing," Harry said sympathetically.

Hermione just smiled at him and followed her mother. "Okay Mum, hit me with your questions," Hermione said as they arrived upstairs.

"Hermione," Emma admonished.

"Well wasn't that what you wanted? To interrogate me about Harry?" Hermione said smiling innocently.

Emma sighed. "I just want to make sure you're happy, or as happy as you can be in this situation."

"I am happy Mum. I won't pretend that Harry is the love of my life yet. But he's my best friend and I am starting to care for him that way as well," Hermione said.

"And is Harry starting to care for you that way?" Emma asked.

"I don't know Mum but he seems happy to be with me, and I know he likes kissing me," Hermione said.

"Tell me more about this marriage bond. Is there no way to undo it if the ministry change the law? You're awfully young to make a commitment like that. You'll both grow and change in ways that you can't even imagine at this point in your lives. What if in the end Harry isn't what you want, or you're not what he wants in the end?" Emma asked.

"The bond is permanent Mum. We needed to choose a marriage bond that the ministry couldn't just get rid of and marry us off again to the people they originally chose," Hermione said.

"I just don't want to see you stuck in an unhappy marriage," Emma said sighing.

"Oh I'm not entirely stuck, I can leave Harry if being together is making us miserable enough to prefer being on our own. But we have to give this every possible chance to work because there will never be anyone else for either of us. Even if I leave Harry all my other relationships will be platonic," Hermione said.

"He really cannot cheat on you?" Emma asked.

"No and I can't cheat on him. I can't even get excited thinking that way about anyone else anymore," Hermione said.

"Not even that actor you liked on the television?" Emma asked.

"Not even him or his fictional character. I can still appreciate that he's good looking and objectively recognise that he's hot but that's as far as it goes," Hermione said, pulling a face.

"Will you still bother watching the show?" Emma asked amused.

"Yes of course!" Hermione replied huffing.

"Does the ritual force you to love him?" Emma asked concerned.

"No, I don't think so. I didn't love him any more after the ritual than I did as a friend before it," Hermione replied.

"You do realise that this is going to mean your relationship is probably going to turn sexual sooner rather than later if he has to think of you every time he masturbates," Emma asked.

Hermione blushed. "I'm not ready for that," she said.

"Why not? I know you were just friends until recently but he's a good-looking boy and he obviously thinks the world of you," Emma asked surprised.

Hermione blushed furiously but decided to take the bull by the horns. Her mother was right, Harry would want to move their relationship in that direction and she needed advice. "We had to have sex as part of the ritual and it was horribly uncomfortable," she admitted.

"The first time usually is," Emma replied.

"And the second and third?" Hermione said.

"That depends on what you were thinking and feeling at the time. If you were thinking that it was going to hurt and you were doing it for him and not because you were aroused, then yes it wouldn't be comfortable," Emma said. "I'm more concerned that you weren't honest with Harry about what you were feeling."

"It wasn't like that. I tried the ritual with Ron first, but the bond didn't form so we tried again thinking we might have got the spell wrong or something. The second time I'm absolutely sure we did everything right, the runes and the chant were perfect and the ritual didn't require me to orgasm but nothing happened. We found out later that both people have to honestly want to form a permanent marriage bond for it to work. I did. I was desperate to escape the marriage the ministry arranged for me but I had to admit that Ron didn't want to marry me." Hermione said.

"You don't sound too unhappy about Ron not wanting to marry you now," Emma commented. She had to admit from the little she knew about the red-haired boy from Hermione's letters she was glad that Hermione had ended up married to Harry instead.

"No if anything I'm relieved, I thought I wanted to date Ron but the last month has shown me that Harry and I are better together than Ron and I would've been," Hermione admitted looking surprised by her feelings.

"But Harry did want to marry you. Why didn't you choose him in the first place?" Emma asked.

"I thought he would've wanted to marry his girlfriend," Hermione said.

"Harry was dating someone else?" Emma asked astonished. "And he still agreed to marry you?"

"Maybe he would have, to protect me, but he wasn't with Ginny anymore anyway. They broke up because she refused to try the ritual with him, but I didn't know until after the ritual failed with Ron and I," Hermione said.

"He seems committed to you," Emma said.

"Of course, he does. The ritual makes sure of that," Hermione scoffed.

"But if he was already in love with his ex-girlfriend it's going to make it very difficult for him to fall in love with you," Emma said. She knew proximity would eventually lead to increased feelings of intimacy and may lead to love if they were both open to it but an ex-girlfriend might mean Harry wasn't open to falling in love again and even if he did the ex would always be in his mind as the one-who-got-away.

"I don't think that he was in love. He broke up with her easily enough. He didn't seem at all upset, I didn't even realise they'd broken up until he told me several days later," Hermione said.

"Could that have been because you were so busy worrying about yourself and the ritual with Ron?" Emma asked.

"Perhaps bit I'm sure I would have noticed if Harry was unhappy, he certainly isn't now," Hermione said frowning.

"Because you always notice everything about Harry?" Emma said smirking.

"He's my best friend of course I notice when there's something wrong," Hermione replied defensively.

"What are you going to do if he does love her?" Emma asked.

"He can't love her. The ritual would prevent it," Hermione said.

"Yet you said it didn't force him to love you and it isn't preventing you from loving your father and I is it?" Emma said.

"No but that's different, I love you as my family not romantically," Hermione said.

"So, what you're saying is that you think the ritual would prevent Harry from being in love with this other girl even though it doesn't make him fall in love with you?" Emma said doubtfully.

"Yes," Hermione said rolling her eyes at what she thought should have been obvious.

Emma still had her doubts, even if the ritual prevented Harry from desiring his ex-girlfriend it didn't necessarily mean he couldn't have feelings for her, but she didn't want to push Hermione even more and make her doubt their relationship. That could do nearly as much harm as if Harry really did still have feelings for someone else. Without physical desire those feelings should soon fade to friendship. She had to do some damage control to make sure she hadn't already harmed Hermione's confidence in her bond with Harry.

"You said that you don't think Harry loves you but as you told me happened with Ron, the ritual wouldn't have formed a permanent bond if he didn't want to marry you," Emma reminded her daughter.

"He wanted to save me from the marriage the ministry would choose. Harry has a real saving people thing," Hermione said.

"You're telling me that he wanted to save you so badly that he gave up his future for you but you still don't believe he has feelings for you?" Emma asked disbelievingly.

"We're best friends. He cares about me, just not like you think he does. I hope he will someday but even if he doesn't our friendship will be enough to build a successful life together," Hermione replied.

"Are you sure that he isn't starting to care for you as a girlfriend even if he doesn't love you like a man should love his wife? The two of you aren't just friends anymore. You told me that you were starting to date. Was that Harry's idea?" Emma asked.

"Yes," Hermione admitted.

"Then he wanted to start an actual relationship with you in addition to your friendship," Emma pointed out.

"Yeah but that might be just because I am his only option now," Hermione said pessimistically.

"I don't think so Hermione. Have a little faith," Emma encouraged.

"Okay, but that doesn't solve my problem," Hermione said, humiliated that she had to ask for help with something so personal.

"You need to break the cycle of expecting pain, and try to be relaxed and aroused before you try again. I'm guessing that since penetrative intercourse was required for the ritual you jumped straight to that instead of adequate foreplay to get you in the mood. I would recommend slowly increasing your level of intimacy and talking honestly to each other," Emma said.

"Okay but will it really make a difference?" Hermione asked.

"It will if you can get your head in the right frame of mind and relax your body. If you continue to have discomfort after the next few attempts, I would suggest you try a muscle relaxant and if that doesn't work you need to speak to a doctor," Emma said.

"Or a magical healer," Hermione said. "I don't know that that's something I could bring up with Madam "Pomfrey though."

"Why not?" Emma asked gently.

"She's always so strict and disapproving most of the time when I'm in the hospital wing," Hermione said.

"Have you spent much time in the hospital wing?" Emma asked alarmed.

Hermione blushed as she thought about the huge number of things she had kept from her mother over the years. "Mostly to visit Harry," she said.

Thankfully Emma took the blush as a sign of her confusion about her feelings for Harry not dishonesty and moved on.

"In that case she might have to be strict to limit the number of visitors Harry had when he was ill, he did say that the nurse used to keep him in the hospital wing to make sure he rested. I don't know how much rest anyone would get surrounded by rowdy teenagers," Emma replied.

A/N: Thank you to Millie072, Moonsong78, Guest, J.F.C, Jostanos, jkarr, tyrannicpuppy, Nocte Furorem, Village-Mystic, sandipi, Nanettez, Firehedgehog, ghostcrab311, EvanescoVeritas, Cecily Mitchell, BMS, katmom, starboy454, , mwinter1, N7SPARTAN-Commander-Jay117, Melikalilly, flame55, Rori Potter, rb2312, gabrieljuarezl, Beyondthesea16, Tyler'sPrincess, Noble Korhedron, ShadowWolfLuna, Fallow55, mikanMD and all those who followed and favourited for your support.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Emma came home from work the next day and asked Hermione to join her up in her room for a discussion.

Harry looked worriedly at Hermione since she'd come down from yesterday's discussion looking upset, but she just gave him a reassuring look as she got up to go upstairs.

"What is it Mum?" Hermione asked.

"Close the door please Hermione," her mother said.

"What is it?" Hermione started to feel alarmed.

"I just didn't want to be overheard. I was thinking through your story the other day and I realised we both might have overlooked something. Did this ritual involve unprotected sex?" Emma asked.

"Yes Mum it did," Hermione admitted looking her mother straight in the face refusing to be ashamed of the fact.

"And were you on any form of birth control at the time?" Emma asked.

Hermione paled, "I was but I brewed it myself and it's one of the most difficult potions I've attempted. I couldn't have it checked by the professor so I'm not 100% sure it worked and then the match notification letter that arrived the day after I bonded with Harry had a fertility hex on it that would have negated the potion," she said.

"Has your period occurred since then?" Emma asked.

"No it's not due for a few more days, and I've heard that the birth control potion sometimes stops it," Hermione replied.

Emma pulled a small packet out of her bag. "Go and use one of these. If it's negative then use the other one first thing tomorrow morning when your urine is more concentrated," she ordered, pushing her daughter into the en suite loo.

Hermione paled and took the bag silently.

She emerged from the loo five minutes later. "I was negative," she said expressionlessly.

"That's a good sign," Emma said smiling.

"I know but we won't know for sure until next week, will we?" Hermione asked insecurely.

"No, we won't but no matter what happens you won't have to do this alone," Emma said hugging her daughter.

"Dad's going to kill Harry if I'm pregnant," Hermione said.

"No he won't! I will not let him, but Hermione there is a bigger issue, you had intercourse with two wizards this month," Emma said.

"Oh God no! what if it is Ron's baby?" Hermione said panicking. "The baby will be Harry's heir even if it's not a Potter. It would devastate him."

"If the test comes back positive then you don't have to keep it. The new chemical abortion pill is readily available, and you can go ahead and finish your schooling before trying again, the ministry never needs to know," Emma said practically.

"Witches don't seem to fall pregnant as easily as nonmagical women Mum. Almost all of my friends are only children. I'm scared that if I do abort a pregnancy I'd be giving up my only chance," Hermione said.

"Are you sure all your friends are only children? Go through the people in your year," Emma said.

"My room mates, Lavender is an only child, Parvati has a twin but no other siblings, Harry, Neville and Seamus are only children. Dean has half siblings but his mother is a muggle, and Ron's one of seven but they're an oddity in this world. My new friends Tracy has a stepbrother but she's her mother's only child, Daphne has sisters but confided that her mother died in childbirth, Bulstrodes and only child but I think Parkinson has a brother, all five of the Slytherin boys are only children. Susan and Hannah from Hufflepuff are both only children and so are Su Li and Lisa from Ravenclaw. I don't know about the rest," Hermione said thinking of each of her friends.

"Would Harry know more?" Emma asked.

"He might know some of the boys but I doubt it, he mostly keeps to his close circle of friends," Hermione replied.

"And how many of these families would have deliberately chosen to have one child, perhaps for financial reasons? Or because the parents' marriage was arranged and they aren't attracted to each other? Or birth complications caused the problem?" Emma asked.

Hermione stopped and looked at her mother, "You know, I have no idea! I hadn't thought about it," she said slowly.

"Hogwarts is expensive and if there isn't an alternative day school there would be couples who made the decision that they couldn't afford to educate more than one child. If there's such things as fertility spells strong enough to guarantee conception, I would expect that having only one child would be a choice in most cases. It was for us," Emma replied.

"I hadn't thought of it that way," Hermione said contemplating.

"How long was it between intercourse with Ron and intercourse with Harry?" Emma asked.

"Three days," Hermione said flushing in humiliation.

"Well for what it's worth if the fertility spell didn't negate your birth control until the day after you had intercourse with Harry then it would be highly unlikely that the child could be Ron's," Emma offered.

"Okay, but if the potion didn't work properly in the first place?" Hermione asked.

"That's less certain but the dates still make it more likely to be Harry's baby all other things being equal," Emma said.

"Let's hope there is no baby," Hermione replied, looking at the pregnancy test again.

"Don't say anything to Harry yet about today's test being negative, use the second test tomorrow and the third the morning you go back to school. You can tell him then," Emma said.

"But what if he's worrying about it too?" Hermione asked.

"It will be harder for him to accept it if you're pregnant and have already told him about a false negative first. These tests aren't as reliable if they're taken too early," Emma warned. "If you get scared about it and use the third test early, let me know and I'll buy you some more."

"Okay then," Hermione agreed, but two days later she didn't need to take the tests she woke with cramps in the night and by morning her monthly flow had started. She took a couple of aspirin and went downstairs to make herself a hot water bottle.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked looking at her hunched figure and pale face with concern.

"I'm fine Harry," Hermione said smiling brightly at him. Surprised he was already awake.

"You're in pain, why are you happy?" Harry asked confused but no less concerned.

"I am fine Harry it's just menstrual cramps. It's a good thing, it means that I'm not pregnant," Hermione replied.

"Oh," Harry replied blushing furiously. "That's good. Is there anything I can do to help the pain?"

"No Harry the aspirin I've taken and the hot water bottle will help and I'll be better in a day or two," Hermione replied smiling again at his thoughtfulness. "What are you doing awake so early?"

"Couldn't get back to sleep," Harry said sheepishly.

"Did you have another nightmare?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, just an old one, nothing too bad," Harry admitted.

"You should have come and woken me up," Hermione said gently hugging him.

"You need your sleep and I was fine," Harry replied.

"So fine that you're on your second cup of tea before seven in the morning?" Hermione retorted.

'Third actually' Harry thought guiltily.

-o0o-

"Do you have an appropriate place where you know you won't be interrupted? Somewhere that's not a cold drafty unused classroom. Because it will be incredibly difficult to relax enough to make things pain free while you're uncomfortable or worried about being discovered," Emma asked. "If not I'd suggest you start trying here while your father is at work."

"It's not the problem, we have our own room," Hermione replied.

"You share a room?" Emma asked shocked.

"All married couples were offered married quarters and it was important that the ministry took the marriages seriously so we accepted. It's nice only sharing a bathroom with one person and Harry's very tidy," Hermione explained.

"So you've been sharing a bed, how is that going?" Emma asked.

"It's fine. Harry had less nightmares when I'm with him," Hermione replied.

"Isn't it awkward if you don't have that sort of relationship?" Emma asked.

"It was at first, we've got used to it," Hermione admitted. "I haven't been sleeping that well this week without him."

-o0o-

Christmas Day dawned early Hermione woke her parents right on the dot of six o'clock and Harry had breakfast ready for everyone when they came downstairs.

"What are you doing. We have presents before breakfast," Hermione said.

"Hermione, your parents need coffee before they can enjoy presents, and I made an American breakfast casserole, it can sit in the oven until we want it," Harry replied, handing over the precious coffee and passing Hermione a cup of tea.

"How long have you been up?" Emma asked.

"About an hour. I finished prepping the veggies for lunch, finished the desserts then made breakfast," Harry replied.

"How did you manage to whip the cream without waking us?" Emma asked.

"I did it by hand," Harry replied.

"You didn't need to do that Harry. It would only take a few minutes with the electric mixer later," Emma scolded.

"I've always done it by hand," Harry dismissed.

"Let's do presents," Hermione said excitedly.

"You're as excited as Ron is on Christmas morning," Harry said indulgently.

Hermione blushed. "It's Christmas Harry!"

"I didn't mean anything bad by it. It's nice to see you so excited," Harry said.

Hermione sobered realising that Harry had never had a really good Christmas, he'd enjoyed the Christmases at school more than with his relatives but the only family Christmas he'd had was with Sirius last year and it had been overshadowed by Mr Weasley getting bitten by Nagini and Harry's reaction to his vision of it happening. She reached over and hugged him. "I promise you Harry that one day you will be just as excited about Christmas as I am," she said sincerely, taking him by the hand and pulling him towards the lounge.

Harry couldn't believe it but he gave Hermione a lopsided grin not wanting to ruin her day. He was honoured, amazed and incredibly grateful that she'd been prepared to give up this special day with her family so he wouldn't be alone, but he was pleased she hadn't had to.

Hermione had bought Harry some new Quidditch protective gear as the set he'd been given when he made the Quidditch team was wearing out, and a super warm long coat and new Gryffindor scarf.

Harry had bought Hermione books, a locket and a pretty jacket that he'd seen her admire while they were shopping for clothes for him.

The Grangers had bought them both muggle books, Hermione the latest releases from several favourite authors and Harry something the bookshop owner had recommended for a boy his age.

Emma loved her new shoes, particularly once's she'd tried them on and felt how comfortable and supportive of her sore ankle they were. Daniel was less impressed with his inserts until he put them in his shoes when he got dressed.

"How come your mum got shoes and inserts but I only got inserts?" Daniel asked.

"Because we didn't think that you'd appreciate dragon hide shoes. Even the less unusual dragon

hide looks more like crocodile than leather," Hermione said.

"But you said your shoes have the same charms and they look like leather," Daniel protested.

"They are, the charms on mine are maintained by ambient magic or the magic of the wearer. But you live in a muggle area. Therefore, you need a material that holds magic to maintain the charms," Harry explained.

Daniel sighed. He wasn't against magic itself, it was just difficult to watch his daughter being drawn into a world where he could never follow her and the reminder that Harry was also part of that world burned his gut. It didn't help that all the other gifts Hermione had given he and Emma came from the wizarding world as well.

-o0o-

Hermione's grandparents arrived about eleven o'clock. "Did Hermione tell you that my Mum and Dad don't know about magic?" Emma asked, quickly gathering up anything distinctly magical and hiding it away.

"No she didn't. Where does she think Hermione goes to school?" Harry asked.

"Hogwarts school for the intellectually gifted," Emma said.

"I'm not sure I can pull that off," Harry said.

"I'm sure you can Harry," Emma encouraged. "Mum and Dad aren't going to quiz you. Just be yourself."

"Okay. Is there anything else I shouldn't talk about?" Harry asked.

"Obviously not your marriage, and we didn't tell them about Hermione getting hurt last year either," Emma said quickly.

"Should I tell Hermione to take her ring off?" Harry asked.

"No it's not worth upsetting her. I'll ask her to call it a promise ring. You're still a bit young for that too but hopefully Mum won't object too vocally," Emma said sighing.

"I'll tell her, you go say hello to your mum before she wonders why you haven't come," Harry said before he moved to talk to Hermione who had just finished hugging her grandparents.

"And who is this?" Mabel Puckle asked.

"Hello Ma'am I'm Hermione's boyfriend Harry Potter," Harry introduced himself before Hermione could introduce him as her husband.

Mabel looked at the now nicely dressed young man in front of her. "Surely Hermione's not old enough to be bringing boyfriends home for Christmas. Where's your family young man, you should be with them," she asked imperiously.

"Dead Grandma," Hermione said bluntly. "Harry can't spend all day sitting in the cemetery in this weather, and I am seventeen, more than old enough to date."

"Still not too old to be impertinent I see," Mabel said. "I told you, you shouldn't have sent her to boarding school, Emma. There was nobody there to remind her to watch her manners and teach her some respect."

"Hermione's more respectful to the professors than anyone I know," Harry interrupted.

"And Harry is a guest in our home," Emma added, before her mother could criticise his manners as well. "He and Hermione have been best friends for five years now before starting to date and I expect that he will be around for quite some time to come."

Harry looked surprised at Emma standing up for him. Hermione's grandmother hadn't been that bad and at least she hadn't brought a vicious dog with her like Vernon's sister always did. He ducked away to check on the food.

"Hello Princess," Alan Puckle said hugging his grand-daughter.

"Hi Grandpa, what have you been reading lately?" Hermione said.

"I've been reading "Breakfast of Champions" by John Vonnegut," Alan said.

"I haven't read him. Is it any good?" Hermione asked eagerly.

"I'm enjoying it," Alan said.

"Come on in and get settled, Hermione will want to give you your presents before lunch," Emma said.

Hermione all but dragged her Grandpa over to the couch and plonked him down before running into the kitchen to fetch Harry and dragged him back to the lounge. "Grandpa this is my best friend, boyfriend and future husband Harry. You need to be nice to him because Grandma and Dad have already been a bit mean and I don't want my family to scare him away," she said bluntly.

Her grandfather laughed. "Okay Princess I promise to be on my best behaviour, it will be difficult, you know I'd only do it for you, but don't you think you should introduce me, I'm sure he doesn't want to spend the day calling me Princess Hermione's Grandpa, it's a bit of a mouthful," he said, winking at Harry.

"Harry this is my Mother's father Alan Puckle," Hermione said blushing.

"Pleased to meet you Mr Puckle Sir," Harry said shaking his hand when it was offered.

"That's nearly as bad as Princess Hermione's Grandpa. I can't be called Mr Puckle by Hermione's best boyfriend. Call me Alan, and tell me a bit about yourself. You must be pretty special to have captured my princess' attentions," Alan said smiling.

"I don't know about that. Hermione has been my best friend since were eleven. I'm nowhere near as smart as she is," Harry said.

"Hermione doesn't need someone as smart as she is, she needs someone who isn't going to use her for her brain or turn on her in jealousy," Alan said.

"I'm not jealous of her smarts, I think she's amazing, and I do my own homework, Hermione reads it through for me but she offers more often than I ask and if she tells me to do it again and put more effort in, I do," Harry said.

"I know that lad, Hermione would never have brought you home to meet us if you were using her," Alan said.

-o0o-

"This is delicious. You've outdone yourself Emma. I wish my pastry was half as light and flaky. Is it choux pastry?" Her mother asked.

"I'm afraid I cannot take the credit. Harry made the desserts. In fact, he did most of the work with the roast before we got up this morning too. It was a real luxury not to have to rush around and squeeze presents in between food preparation," Emma said.

"You're a great cook, but it's an odd hobby for a boy your age," Mabel said.

"My Aunt taught me to cook when I started school. It's peaceful," Harry replied.

Hermione frowned, knowing that Harry found cooking peaceful because eating was the one thing his uncle and cousin liked more than tormenting Harry and they'd leave him alone while he was cooking so the food wouldn't be ruined. She could barely eat her perfectly cooked dessert and only choked it down so as not to upset Harry.

Emma gave her daughter a concerned look but Hermione shook her head silently begging her not to say anything. She looked down at her dessert, the perfectly cooked and presented individual trifles, the mince pies with pastry made from scratch, the shortbread that melted in your mouth. She couldn't have made any of those as well as they were made. It dawned on her what Hermione was upset about, this level of skill took hours and hours of practice and Harry had spent most of the year, including Christmas, at school since he was eleven.

Daniel, Alan and Mabel ate obliviously, complimenting Harry on his cooking.

After dinner Daniel kicked the cooks out of the kitchen and he and Hermione dealt with the washing up as per the Granger family tradition. Hermione was reluctant this year, she didn't want to leave Harry alone with her grandparents.

"Hermione says you've been friends since she started at that school, why hasn't she brought you home before?" Mabel asked.

"I don't think that her father would give her permission to bring me home before now," Harry said mildly.

"I wouldn't think he would this year either, so what changed?" Mabel retorted.

"I gave Hermione a promise ring and Emma wanted to meet me," Harry said.

"Where do you normally spend Christmas? Where would you have spent Christmas if Hermione hadn't invited you home?" Alan asked.

"At school, there's always a few students who can't go home and some of the professors live at the school year round so they put on a pretty decent Christmas dinner," Harry replied.

"That must get lonely," Emma said.

"Not really usually the Weasleys stay at school, fourth year nearly everybody stayed for the ball and last year my Godfather was in the country so I stayed with him," Harry replied.

"Why aren't you staying with your godfather again?" Mabel asked.

"You know that never made sense to me, Mrs Weasley acts like family means everything to her and she treats Ron and Ginny like they're still eleven half the time but she left Ron, Percy and the twins at school in Ron's first year to take Ginny to visit her brother Charlie in Romania," Hermione interrupted loudly.

"Ron admitted they couldn't afford to take all of them," Harry said softly.

"I'm not surprised. I wouldn't have thought they could afford to go at all but wouldn't it be cheaper to pay for Charlie to come home for Christmas. Then she could have had nearly all the family together," Hermione countered.

"You're right, but what about it?" Emma said.

"I think she might have done it for Harry. She'd never met him so it would've looked too strange if she invited him home for Christmas but she sent him a present, a hand knitted jumper which was odd too," Hermione said.

"You think she had an ulterior motive?" Emma asked.

"I don't know but she's really upset that Harry isn't going to marry Ginny. Far more than you'd expect for the mother of a fifteen-year-old," Hermione said. "She wrote and abused both of us for getting together behind her children's backs."

"She wrote and insulted you for dating the boy her daughter wants to date? That's ridiculous," Mabel said.

"I couldn't agree more," Emma said.

"She didn't send me a Christmas present either, I've never not got one from them since I met her son, even though I only met her for a minute or two on the platform," Harry said.

"I'm sorry Harry, I didn't even notice she hadn't sent you a present but maybe Errol is just running late or not fit enough to bring it. She might want to give it to you when she sees you on the platform on our way back to school," Hermione said.

"No I don't think so," Harry said shrugging. "Don't worry Hermione I'm not upset about it, I just noticed when you started speaking about sending me one that Christmas when we'd barely met when they showed me how to… find the platform."

Hermione frowned realising that Harry's story of meeting the Weasleys on the muggle side of the platform didn't make much sense either. Molly had been striding about breaking the statute of secrecy and then had apparently forgotten the number of the only magical platform at Kings Cross Station. Had it all been a set up for some reason, and why? Surely, it wasn't all so Ginny could marry the-boy-who-lived? If it was, Hermione wouldn't want to be Ginny when Molly found out that she'd refused to marry Harry before he could even ask, because she had no doubt that Harry had been planning to ask Ginny to attempt the ritual with him, since Ron already told him that he'd asked Hermione. She wondered whether Molly would ever apologise or whether Harry's howler had angered her enough to not care that she'd been unfair or possibly it just no longer mattered now she and Harry could no longer marry Ron and Ginny.

"Do you take a cooking class at school?" Mabel asked.

"No unfortunately they don't offer cooking or food preparation classes," Harry replied. "I wish they did." Inwardly he thought to himself that potions was fairly close to a cooking class but the instructions were so exacting, Snape was so unpleasant and such a bad teacher that he didn't find it pleasant in the least.

It had taken time for Harry to wrap his head around the fact that in potions it mattered which way you cut an item, whether you stirred clockwise or anti clockwise and measurements had to be absolutely exact. He'd been cooking long enough to know none of those things mattered and that playing with the amount of one or two ingredients sometimes improved the results. By the time he'd understood it was too late for him to respect Snape enough to try his best in class and he realized most of the time it wouldn't have mattered anyway, even when he stopped making mistakes Ron made plenty and he couldn't pair with Hermione. She was needed to stop Neville from blowing himself up. It was a pity because he was sure with decent teaching right from the start, potions could've been his favourite subject.

"What is your favourite class?" Alan asked.

"Defence" Harry replied without thinking.

"They teach a self defence class. Is it based off any particular martial art?" Alan asked interested.

"I don't know I just like it because it's active. There isn't any other physical education class," Harry replied, hoping it was an acceptable answer.

"Hermione says you don't have any sports teams either. That's a strange school you go to. Don't they believe in exercise?" Alan asked.

Harry didn't know what to say. He couldn't explain that they got plenty of exercise walking around the castle because he didn't know what Hermione had told them about Hogwarts but he wanted to agree that wizards were basically lazy and should place more importance on exercise. The whole wizarding world seemed Quidditch mad but less than 10% of students tried out for a team and only a few more than that joined in the rare pick up games they had.

"I can't understand why Emma let Hermione go to boarding school. There are plenty of fine prep schools she could have gone to close enough to home. What made your parents choose this school?" Alan asked.

"It's where they met, and they had so many great memories of their time there that they enrolled me at birth," Harry said with a smile.

"So you're a legacy student," Mabel said condescendingly.

"Harry is second in our house for our year level," Hermione retorted. "He May be something like the twentieth generation of Potters to attend but he still earned his place."

"Don't exaggerate, Hermione," Mabel scolded.

"I'm not. There was a Hendrikus Potter who was head boy in the year 548," Hermione said angrily.

"There's no guarantee that he was related to Harry," Mabel said.

"Actually, he was. I have a book with my family tree in it. I remember the name because I wondered if his friends called him Harry too," Harry said.

Did your book reveal any living relatives?" Emma asked.

"Distant ones," Harry agreed. "I was third cousins with Sirius and third cousins once removed with Draco Malfoy through his mother, fourth cousins once removed with Neville Longbottom, and some sort of fifth cousins with the Weasleys, Susan Bones And a couple of others."

"So you're closest living relative is Malfoy's mother. If you hadn't gone to your aunt, you could have been sent to the Malfoy?" Hermione asked in horror.

"And Tonks' mother. I'm sure if there was any danger of the Malfoys getting hold of me, Dumbledore wouldn't have sealed my parents will, and I'd have gone to live with the guardians they chose," Harry replied.

"Yes I suppose he would have," Hermione said frowning.

"That or had me kidnapped and the Dursleys blackmailed to keep me," Harry said cynically, only remembering to replace the word spelled with something Muggle at the last second. Unfortunately, 'Blackmail' wasn't the best word to use in front of Hermione's grandparents, especially since they were talking about the headmaster of a school her grandparents didn't approve of in the first place.

"You're accusing the headmaster of your school of being capable of kidnapping and blackmail?" Mabel screeched.

"Yes, only for my own good of course," Harry replied trying not to sound sarcastic.

"Do you think Neville knows that you're cousins?" Hermione asked curious but mostly to change the subject.

"He's almost sure to, I don't know why he never told me, maybe he thought I'd already know, but he probably has a lot more cousins at school than I do, both his parents are from old families, and most of them are related somewhere along the line if you go back far enough," Harry replied.

"That's ridiculous," Mabel snapped.

"It's only marrying ancestors, siblings or first cousins that's illegal. Most people couldn't even tell you all of their fourth or fifth cousins. If it helps any, I can guarantee that Hermione and I are legally less than ninth cousins," Harry replied.

"Harry's right. I couldn't even begin to know whether Daniel and I are that distantly related," Emma said.

"That's okay, even animal studs only look back six generations. Beyond that the genetic diversity is sufficient not to cause birth defects unless a family is a known carrier of a genetic disorder," Alan said jovially.

Hermione looked faintly revolted.

"What's wrong Hermione?" Harry asked.

Hermione offered herself and Harry to make tea and dragged him into the kitchen. "Sirius said his parents were first cousins. That it was normal amongst his family. Where you father's parents related?" She whispered.

"They were seventh cousins so only very distantly but through more than one branch of their family trees. Sirius family tree has more than a few closely related spouses, there are only so many pure blood families who believe in pure blood superiority in England so the range of choice for someone like Malfoy would be quite small and I'd imagine he's already related to most of them," Harry replied.

"Do you think that there was something wrong with him? Sirius, I mean, not your father," Hermione asked.

"He wasn't quite sane, I assumed that was due to his exposure to the dementors and the conditions in Azkaban but I also heard someone refer to the Black family madness. His cousin Bellatrix was certainly insane and rumour has it that she was before she went to Azkaban too."

A/N: Thank you to mikanMD, BMS, katmom, tyrannicpuppy, Rori Potter, KrisB-71854, Firehedgehog, mwinter1, Jostanos, Ghostisreading, Melikalilly, mooneysfate, jkarr, nette91, Tyler'sPrincess, Ronin Kenshin, sandipi, HinataMorningstar, roon0, Village-Mystic, gabrieljuarezl, rb2312, Beyondthesea16, J.F.C, N7SPARTAN-Commander-Jay117, Cecily Mitchell, Kreaacher, EvanescoVeritas, HoneyBear84, serenityselena and all those who followed or favourited this story for your support.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT** give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Harry collapsed onto the seat of the Hogwarts express, relaxing fully for the first time since leaving school two weeks before. He'd enjoyed the holiday with Hermione's parents and meeting Hermione's grandparents, even Mabel had grown on him as she relaxed a little and got to know him better. But even though he'd enjoyed his time away from school and Emma had been nothing but welcoming after the first day, even with her he still felt like he was under scrutiny the whole time and about to be found wanting. He could tell that Daniel disapproved of his relationship with Hermione though he wasn't sure if it was just their age or if he really thought Harry wasn't good enough somehow.

"Mum said you're welcome to spend some time with us over the summer," Hermione told him.

"And your dad?" Harry asked sceptically.

"He heard Mum say it and didn't disagree," Hermione replied. "I think that's about as much as I had hoped for at this stage."

Harry nodded, it was more than he had expected but summer was months away, he'd worry about it at the end of the year. He suddenly remembered that he wouldn't have an attack by Voldemort to face in June this year and wondered pessimistically if the death eaters, the ministry or someone else would have a go at him instead. The school was overdue to turn on him again.

They were soon joined by Neville, "Hi Harry, hi Hermione. Did you have a good Christmas?" he asked.

"Eventually, Hermione said. Telling my parents that I was married didn't go down very well," Hermione said.

"It was nerve racking meeting Hermione's parents properly. Her mum is really nice but I don't think her dad was very impressed with me," Harry replied.

"Gosh I'm glad it was you then, he would have despised me," Neville replied.

"Nonsense Neville, there's nothing wrong with you," Hermione said sternly.

"I don't think it would've mattered who it was. Nobody would be good enough for his little girl," Harry said. "He was bloody furious about the marriage law. I thought I'd be getting straight onto the knight bus from Kings Cross for a while there."

"Yeah but at least he changed his mind," Dean said encouragingly, having arrived during the conversation.

"Only after Hermione threatened to come with me," Harry said.

"It wasn't a threat. Nobody stayed at school this year. I don't even think any of the professors stayed. I wasn't leaving you alone for Christmas," Hermione said matter-of-factly.

"Anyway, how was your Christmas?" Harry asked.

"It was fine, same as always. Well not really, Gran's trying to arrange a match for me to get married to someone she approves of before the ministry sends me a match in August," Neville said red faced.

Harry grinned. "Anyone you like?" he asked.

"I'd never met most of them," Neville groaned. "They came over with their mothers and grandmothers and we sat and politely drank tea. How am I supposed to know if I like them if I can't even speak freely?"

"What about you Dean? Did you like Leanne's family?" Hermione asked.

"They seem nice enough, though it was a bit awkward, better than your dad was to Harry because they knew what we'd been facing if we hadn't got married. They were grateful that she escaped a ministry match. Their house is so quiet, it's eerie. We stayed the hols with them and only spent one night with Mum and Da, they don't really have the room for us," Dean replied.

"And you Seamus, how were the Patil's?" Harry asked.

"A bloody nightmare!" Seamus replied dramatically.

"I thought Padma told us that her parents were pleased that she and Parvati had managed to escape their ministry matches," Harry replied.

"Aye they were okay about it, it were me own Mam that weren't, she wanted me to marry her best friend's daughter, a good Irish girl. They had the whole wedding planned for the day after I arrived home and when I told her I was already married she hit the roof. I don't know if she was madder at me for not trusting her to sort it, ruining her plans, embarrassing her friends and their daughter or that Parvati isn't Irish. She and my Da fought all Christmas about it," Seamus replied his increased accent revealing how upset he truly was about it all. "Then when I got to Parvati's, her father gave me the third degree and told me I needed to work harder and get better marks at school if I wanted to be able to look after his daughter properly, and I was being compared to Terry Bloody Boot all the time. Sometimes I think even Parvati would've preferred to be bonded to him."

"That's not true! Parvati likes you, she just wants you to treat her more like Terry treats Padma, which is a little unfair since they've been dating for years. Just try to treat her more like a girlfriend and less like an unwanted wife and you'll be fine," Hermione declared.

Neville, the only one temporarily free from encumbrances, laughed. The others nodded like this was useful advice.

"If we're all together, where's Ron?" Seamus asked.

"Probably sitting with Ginny, he wouldn't come in here with Harry and Hermione," Dean replied.

"He still holding a grudge?" Seamus asked sympathetically. "He's usually calmed down before this."

"I don't know, we didn't hear from any of the Weasleys over the holiday," Harry said cheerfully. "I think usually he has his parents and his siblings telling him what an idiot he is and to get over it, this time Ginny and Mrs Weasley's are just as mad as Ron, so he'll probably be all fired up about it again."

Neville shuddered. "You're lucky you don't have to share a room with him."

"What's wrong? He isn't mad at you," Harry asked.

"He was angry at the whole world. Every time he saw your old bed he tried to set it on fire," Neville replied.

"Set it on fire with his glaring or literally cast flame spells at it?" Harry asked curiously.

"Both," Neville replied. "I really miss you all."

"To be honest mate I miss you guys too, if Ron had gotten over himself I was going to suggest we have a guys' night one Friday, Parvati, Lavender and Hermione can have a girls' night. Parvati will love it," Seamus said.

"That's a great idea," Dean said smiling. "We should do that. We could ask the room of requirement to give us a dorm room if Ron's still being a pest."

-o0o-

"Will you join Parvati and Lavender?" Harry asked.

"I'll go for a while, they'd be offended if I didn't. This guys' and girls' night thing has taken off I think the seventh years are doing it too, and the Ravenclaws. Are you boys using the dorm?" Hermione replied.

"We're going to start in the dorm but we've got permission from McGonagall to leave and use an empty classroom for our get together if Ron throws a fit about it," Harry replied.

"Have fun Harry," Hermione said hugging him.

"You too, send Hedwig with a note if you want me to come home," Harry replied.

"I'll be fine Harry, I might duck out early if the night degenerates to gossip and makeovers but they aren't likely to hurt me," Hermione replied. "Promise you won't let Ron get to you?"

"I promise, he's been quieter since Christmas, I expected him to be worse," Harry said.

"Katie told me that Alicia and the twins told everyone the truth and lit into him, Molly and Ginny for their attitude to our marriage," Hermione said.

"Ginny's still acting like I broke her heart, she barely looks at me without tears in her eyes," Harry snorted.

"She isn't angry anymore though," Hermione said. "I think she really believed her silly daydreams and she thought that she could refuse the bond back in November and you'd still be around waiting to marry her the summer after graduation."

Harry smiled. "In a better world she could have had it all. We all could have had normal teenage relationships and finished school before we had to save the world or make adult decisions about our futures, though I don't know if I would have married her in that case," he said. "A part of me is glad that at least some people got to keep that innocence. Especially since it all worked out for the best. I really couldn't imagine being married to Ginny."

"And I shudder at the thought of being married to Ron's temper and sulks," Hermione replied.

-o0o-

"Let's get the party started," Seamus said enthusiastically as he led the way up the stairs to their old dorm room.

Dean cheered. Harry helped carry up the crate of butterbeer and the bag of sweets he'd asked Dobby to fetch him from Hogsmeade for the occasion.

Neville took one look at his laden arms and whispered, "Are you trying to bribe him with food?"

"Whatever works. I can't say our friendship will totally recover but it'd be good to be mates again if it's possible, or at least not to have him glaring at us all the time," Harry replied softly.

"I don't know what he's so upset about anyway, surely he can see that being married is no picnic," Seamus said.

"There are definite compensations though," Dean said smirking and winking.

"Definitely, so long as I haven't been relegated to the couch again for saying or doing the wrong thing," Seamus said.

"What about you Harry? Enjoying the compensations of married life?" Dean asked.

"Well I'm not sleeping on the couch, and my marks have improved," Harry replied, refusing to give them any details.

Seamus laughed at that. "Yeah, no fun for little Harry until his homework's finished," he teased.

"Hey! Not so little," Harry protested automatically.

"Seriously though, she makes you do your homework?" Dean asked.

"She doesn't nag me to do it any more than she always has, but she gets disappointed when I don't do my best and I hate disappointing Hermione," Harry replied blushing a little.

"You always did, you hated it when we fought and you couldn't take her side," Ron said unexpectedly.

"I hated it when the three of us fought, always," Harry retorted. "I just usually took Hermione's side because she was the one making sense and being fair about things."

"And I was the one going off in a strop and holding a grudge," Ron agreed. "I'm sorry Harry, I hope we can be friends again."

"Yes, I'd like that. But I warn you I will be taking Hermione's side in your next argument. She means a lot to me and I really want our marriage to work."

"Better you than me being married to the homework police. Have you thought about what it's going to be like with NEWTs next year? She was impossible over OWLs," Ron said.

"She isn't that bad," Harry protested.

"Yes she was, Harry," Dean said.

"Enough talking about the missus, it's guys' night. Our one night we don't have to think about them or second guess what we're doing or saying to make our wives happy. Let's party!" Seamus said pulling out a bottle of Firewhiskey.

"Gee Seamus, where'd you get that?" Neville stuttered.

"Smuggled it back in my trunk after Christmas," Seamus said proudly.

"I think I'll stick to butterbeer," Harry said.

"Wimp," Ron said holding his cup out for Seamus to fill.

"The whole idea of a guys' night is to get away from our wives' expectations," Dean said also passing over his cup.

"Sure, but we have quidditch training at seven o'clock and it won't be any fun with a hangover," Harry pointed out to his team mates. "Don't expect Katie to go easy on us just because we've been drinking and partying. Oliver never did, and I for one don't want to get on her bad side."

"I'm surprised Hermione hasn't wanted you to give up Quidditch since she thinks it's such a waste of time," Neville commented.

"She wouldn't dare!" Ron yelled.

"She would if I don't keep my grades up. As she says, I'm at school to learn not to play," Harry said mildly.

"That's how she's getting you to study. Blackmail," Dean laughed.

"No she's right, less than one student per year gets picked up by a professional team and about half of those barely make it out of the reserves. Add to the fact there are only two players in their thirties still playing and even if I did want to play professionally I need to graduate with good enough grades for another career if I don't make it or after I finish playing," Harry said.

"Footballer's get paid enough to retire when they finish playing," Dean said.

"The very best of them do, but the muggle world is so much bigger, the teams make more money and therefore can pay their players more and then there's all the advertising and sponsorship money. But think about it Manchester United alone probably has more supporters than there are witches or wizards in England, and still a lot of the run of the mill players don't play long enough to set themselves up for life," Harry said.

"More supporters than there are wizards? That's not possible," Ron scoffed.

"West Ham has 700,000 fans, Manchester united would have six or seven times that at least," Dean replied. "Harry has a point that Quidditch players couldn't make as much money as a top football player. It would be sensible to have a backup plan."

"I can't see Harry wanting to be a quidditch star. He hates the attention he gets already, why would he want a job that gives him more?" Neville added.

"Because it's Quidditch!" Ron said as if they were being stupid doubting it.

"Neville's right!" Harry exclaimed, glad at least one of his mates got it. "So, if I'm not going to play quidditch for the rest of my life I need the marks to get a decent job. Something more interesting than working in a shop or something. But quidditch is a lot of fun and if it isn't affecting my studies there's no reason not to play, other than sadistic captains dragging me out of bed at the crack of dawn on the weekend."

Neville, the only one who had never tried out for the team just laughed at him.

"Are you enjoying your last months of bachelorhood?" Seamus slurred. "You should, pretty soon you'll have a wife to nag you as well."

"I wouldn't put up with being nagged by my wife," Ron said.

"And you thought you wanted to marry Hermione?" Dean asked in disbelief. "Hermione who can even nag the professors, and heaven knows what poor Harry puts up with."

"She's not that bad," Harry protested.

"She's been nagging all of us about homework and studying since the first week or first year," Seamus said laughing.

"And curfew, school rules, table manners, eating habits, food choices and cleaning our teeth thoroughly," Dean added.

And respecting the professors and the mess in our dorm every time she comes in, not to mention her house elf rights campaign," Neville contributed.

"She's a nightmare," Ron agreed with the others. "You're right, I had a lucky escape."

"Hermione cares about trying to get us all to be the best we can be. She might not know the best way to achieve that but she always means well and she does it because she cares about us," Harry said sternly.

"We know her heart's in the right place Harry but even you can't say you enjoy her nagging," Dean said placatingly.

Harry realised that anything that helped Ron accept his and Hermione's marriage was a good thing and stopped himself from protesting further though he thought they were being unfair to Hermione. He took a swig from his butterbeer and wondered if Hermione was having more fun than he was, and when hanging out with his dorm mates stopped being easy. Probably about the same time he and Ron fought.

-o0o-

Hermione on her part was being pressed by Lavender and Parvati about Harry's performance in the bedroom.

"That's none of your business!" Hermione declared blushing and highly offended.

"What you don't think he's telling his dorm mates all about your sex life?" Lavender asked. "all boys brag to each other, it's just human nature."

"He wouldn't," Hermione gasped.

"Believe me Hermione he'll deny it if you ask him, but he would," Parvati said, slightly more sympathetically.

"Harry isn't like that," Hermione protested.

"All boys are like that," Lavender said scathingly.

Hermione knew that Harry wouldn't be bragging about their non-existent sex life, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't discuss the problem with his friends. But no, he wouldn't talk about it, not with Ron and Neville there.

"Well I don't believe you and even if I'm wrong I'm not like that, so you'll have to wait and ask Seamus," Hermione declared furiously packing up her things and getting ready to return to her own room.

"Don't go, we won't ask again," Parvati said regretfully.

Hermione sat back down and the other two turned their discussion to rumours of how their classmates marriages were going, interspersed with the latest fashions in clothes and hairstyles. She even let Lavender have a go at doing her hair and had to admit she quite liked the result, even if she didn't think she had the patience to spend that much time doing her hair.

-o0o-

"I spoke to Mum about how it hurt so much to have sex. She said that it might not be something wrong with me but she'll take me to a doctor if it's still a problem over the summer," Hermione said hesitantly.

"You told your mum?" Harry asked shocked.

"She asked," Hermione said defensively. "Would you rather I ask Parvati and Lavender for advice?"

"I'm not complaining though I have to admit I'm glad I didn't know about that while we were there. I was just surprised," Harry said. "Did she help?"

"She suggested that the problem was that I was too anxious and tense because it was too much about trying to form a bond and not about wanting to have sex," Hermione said.

"So you want to try again?" Harry said hopefully.

"If you want to. Most of the pain relief spell would decrease the sensation but I found a spell to relax my muscles so it might help I can't cast it on myself though," Hermione said.

Harry took the book and read through the spell. "This is the spell Madam Pomfrey cast on me after the third task. It's for extreme muscle pain and spasms. It made me all floppy, I couldn't do anything," Harry said not wanting to admit to Hermione that it also made him wet himself and he thought Madam Pomfrey had also had to do a spell to stop him shitting himself as well. That would be a real turn off if they were trying to have sex. He didn't want to be pissed on.

"That might make things a little difficult," Hermione admitted.

"We can't use this spell Hermione, Madam Pomfrey said that I must not try to cast it on myself or my friends because there's a risk that it will overrelax your chest muscles and you won't be able to breathe properly," Harry said worried.

"I don't know what to do then?" Hermione said anxiously. "I want to have a successful relationship in that way too but how can we if it hurts so much."

"I've been reading a bit too. I bought a book back when I snuck out to buy condoms for everybody else. There are things we could do that wouldn't hurt you and would still feel good and if you're used to the other things feeling good then maybe by the time we have to try to have a baby you'll be able to relax without a spell," Harry said.

"What sort of book?" Hermione asked.

"A sort of beginners manual," Harry admitted. He pulled out the book and handed it over. "There were other books but from the short time I had to look they seemed to be for people that had gotten the basics and were looking for something different."

Hermione nodded her understanding, she'd seen books like that too but had never dared to buy them, much less this 'sex for Dummies' it must have been so embarrassing to admit to wanting or needing a book like that.

"Umm... I'll leave you to read," Harry stammered almost running out of their private living room. Hermione barely noticed him go caught up in reading about self exploration and pleasuring.

-o0o-

"I'm ready," Hermione said.

"Ready for what?" Harry asked confused. Looking up he saw she was wearing her school robes and clasping her hands together tightly like she did when she was anxious.

"Ready to try to have sex," Hermione said nervously.

"Really Hermione?" Harry questioned. "Why now all of a sudden? Have you been reading the book I loaned you?"

"Yes, I read it," Hermione said impatiently. "Now do you want to or not?"

"Actually, with that attitude I'd think that you'd rather I said no," Harry replied.

"I would not! What makes you say that?" Hermione demanded.

"You have the same expression that Ron does when he's about to do his potions' homework," Harry said honestly.

Hermione laughed unexpectedly. "I really do want to try, I'm just still worried how it will go," she admitted.

"You need to stop thinking about this as an exam you need to pass, it's supposed to be fun and if it isn't going to be enjoyable then there's no point doing it until we need to have a baby," Harry said frustrated. "Lets just fool around and have some fun and not worry about the purpose."

"Okay," Hermione said straddling his lap and kissing him.

He kissed back and started to become aroused. Hermione squirmed against him and he groaned. He was really getting into it when he looked at Hermione's expression and saw that she was bracing herself not to show him pain if it hurt.

"I don't think you understand. You're already tensing up to hide the pain. We're not going to have sex today. Just a bit of kissing and stuff, nothing that could hurt," He said gently.

Then what are you going to do?" Hermione asked.

"We're going to get naked and I'm going to make you come. Show you that being with me can feel great," Harry said.

"Confident, aren't you?" Hermione asked smirking at him.

"We have the attraction thing down, kissing you is way too hot for the rest not to be good too if we let it," Harry replied kissing her passionately.

"Hmm" Hermione agreed wordlessly.

Harry took that as permission to start unbuttoning her robes.

Of course, living in an ancient Scottish castle in winter meant layers of clothing, even a magical castle, and they quickly realized that it would be more effective to undress themselves. Finally, they were naked in the same room for the first time since their bonding and it was every bit as awkward as it had been then.

"You're beautiful," Harry said reverently.

Hermione blushed even brighter, "No I'm not, but you are."

Harry smiled slightly, then shivered. "Do you want to move closer to the fire or under the covers?" he asked.

"Umm under the covers," Hermione said, practically diving into the bed.

Harry followed more slowly and pulled her close rolling onto his back so she was on top of him. He cast a warming spell on the sheets before putting his wand on the bedside table.

Running his hands down Hermione's back as he kissed her he hesitated before moving them lower to fondle her bum. "Is this okay?" he asked.

"Yes, it's fine," she said smiling between kisses, his hands were gentle and warm and felt good touching her, she could feel his erection pressing against her thigh but since he wasn't doing anything about it at the moment she chose not to worry about it for now.

Harry released her lips kissing along her jaw line lightly and down her neck to suck on her collarbones making Hermione moan, then rolled them over and moved down to kiss the upper sides of her breasts, sitting up straddling her to take her nipple into his mouth.

Hermione arched her back, clearly enjoying the feeling of her breasts being kissed and suckled and that put the head of Harry's erection against her clit. Harry started to draw back worried that that would be a step too far for Hermione but the movement of it against her made her moan and start to breathe heavily as she rocked against him, grabbing his hips to hold him in place.

Harry groaned and couldn't help thrusting against her, it felt so good.

Hermione hesitated and he saw wariness on her fact and immediately drew back. "It's okay Hermione, we can stop if you like. I didn't mean to take things this far today," Harry stammered.

"It's okay, you can keep going. You weren't hurting me. It felt nice actually, very nice," Hermione said blushing.

Harry realised she was probably in the same boat he was, desperately aroused and feeling jittery at having been so close to orgasm and then suddenly stopping all stimulation. Part of him wanted to run into the shower and relieve the tension but he couldn't leave Hermione looking so vulnerable.

"You want to have sex," Hermione said looking at how hard he was.

"I can take care of it. You don't have to do anything you don't want to," Harry replied. "Or we could go back to what we were doing, if you don't mind me making a mess all over you."

"We could have sex. It's okay Harry. I can do it," Hermione said firmly but Harry could still see fear underneath her determination.

"No, we'll stop as soon as you start to feel uncomfortable, we have two years to get there and I don't think that forcing yourself is going to help. There's no reason to rush this," Harry said.

"But don't you want to have sex, didn't you enjoy it?" Hermione asked.

"I enjoyed it immensely at the time, being with you like that felt fantastic but it isn't worth hurting you," Harry admitted.

"But I want to try," Hermione said desperately.

"Hermione you can barely say the words without tensing up. Trying now and failing will only make it harder to relax and succeed next time, you're not ready," Harry said practically. "Let's just have some fun fooling around and let me make you feel good. Then if you want you can make me come with your hands or your mouth, there's no need to hurt yourself."

He leaned down and started kissing her again, careful to keep his erection from thrusting against her this time and slowly kissed his way down her body to her core.

"Now keep in mind that I haven't done anything like this before so if you don't like something or you want me to keep doing something or move higher or lower or softer, harder slower or faster please tell me," he begged.

He used his hands to open Hermione's thighs and got his first up close look at the treasure between them, trying to orient where he needed to find her pleasure points from the diagram in the book.

Hermione squirmed in embarrassment as he just looked at her. She reminded herself that he was just learning what girls looked like, not judging her. Harry moved one hand to explore with his fingers, carefully watching her reactions til he found the place that made her moan and pant, then leaned down and kissed it and began to suck gently before lapping it with his tongue, enjoying the taste.

Hermione came shuddering and shouting his name, and Harry lifted himself to hold her through the aftershocks.

"Wow" Hermione breathed and Harry grinned.

"You enjoyed yourself?" he asked, sure of the answer.

"Prat," Hermione said blushing.

Harry just laughed and moved a little so his erection wasn't pressing against her body.

Hermione finally noticed his predicament. "Oh! You must think I'm selfish. Do you want me to…" she stammered.

"Please," Harry almost groaned.

Hermione wrapped her hand around him, before sitting up so she could have a better view of what she was doing. She gave a couple of experimental pumps making Harry's hips jerk and he began thrusting into her hand erratically, leaking pre-come. Hermione bent down and licked the head of his penis and he lost it, coming all over her face.

"Oh Merlin, I'm sorry Hermione," he said embarrassed, covering his face with his arm.

"Um, I'll just go and clean up," Hermione said rushing from the bed.

Harry turned and buried his face in the pillow hoping he hadn't just ruined everything.

A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed followed or favourited this story for your support.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of their characters. I do however own this story. I wrote it and I do NOT give my permission for it to be posted anywhere else. If you feel a need to share it, you are welcome to post a link.

Hermione took her time showering then walked out of the bathroom through the bedroom without saying anything. Harry took that as a sign she wanted to be alone and went and cleaned up and dressed, casting several cleaning charms on the sheets and opening the window to let the icy wind in to replace the smell of sex with fresh air.

He re-entered their lounge area to find Hermione taking notes from a book, she didn't look up and he sat down and started work without saying anything. He didn't know what to say. How the hell do you apologise to someone for cumming when they licked the head of your penis. When that was supposedly what they wanted you to do, just maybe not so unexpectedly or so messily all over their face. He sat working on a transfiguration essay that he just knew he'd have to redo the next day because his thoughts were far too disjointed to write coherently, until finally it was late enough to escape to bed.

"Good night Hermione," he said quietly, getting up.

"Good night Harry, I'll be in soon," Hermione replied.

-o0o-

Harry pretended to be asleep when Hermione came to bed. He wasn't sure if Hermione believed he was but she willingly got into the bed with him and turned her back to him.

Several hours later they were both lying there still trying to pretend they were sleeping, though they both knew the other wasn't asleep.

Harry broke first. "Hermione," he whispered hesitantly.

"Harry," Hermione replied sighing.

"Are we okay?" Harry asked.

"Yes I think so," Hermione said.

Harry rolled over and pulled Hermione into his arms, "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

"No… let's go to sleep," Hermione stammered.

"Okay, you need to relax to fall asleep," Harry replied.

Hermione huffed and Harry bit his lip to stop himself from chuckling, laughing would only make her angry.

It took a while but Harry eventually fell asleep and when he woke in the morning he was relieved to find Hermione sleeping cuddled up with him the same as she usually was. He regretted having to get up and leave her for Quidditch practice but figured that it was probably better to keep to their normal routine even if that meant that Hermione woke up alone and had time to hide her emotions before he saw her again.

-o0o-

Hermione was waiting for him when he finished showering and getting ready for class after his early morning quidditch practice. "Hey," he said surprised but happy.

"Oh hey, Harry, ready for breakfast?" Hermione asked blushing.

"Starving," Harry confirmed smiling widely. "Shall we?"

He slipped his hand into Hermione's as they left the room and Hermione gave him a surprised look. Harry blushed and let her go looking down. "Sorry," he muttered.

Hermione grabbed his hand again. "No it's okay, it's nice. I just wasn't expecting it."

Harry looked relieved and thought that maybe he hadn't ruined anything after all and Hermione was happy to continue moving their relationship into a more romantic one than mere friendship. He began to hope that she was also prepared to continue what they'd started in the bedroom as well but he'd take whatever he could get after all his fears the night before. Hopefully next time he could control himself a bit more, or at least manage to warn his wife in time.

They arrived in the great hall and greeted their friends and the rest of the morning fell back into their normal patterns of friendship during meals and classes and studying together in the library to gather the information they needed to complete their homework and Harry had a chance to redo his transfiguration work which was indeed almost incoherently scattered. It wasn't until after dinner that they were alone together in their room. Harry expected Hermione to get out her books and finish her essays before bringing up their personal relationship so he got out his charms homework prepared for another hour or two of study. He didn't want to annoy or disappoint Hermione at this point.

"Harry can we talk?" Hermione asked.

"Sure," Harry said looking up and attempting to smile. Hermione sounded nervous and was looking everywhere but at Harry as her face flushed scarlet, telling Harry that the talk she wanted to have involved sex, or what had happened last night. He hoped she wasn't about to tell him that she wanted to back out of their agreement to try to learn to give each other pleasure without the pressure of feeling they needed to have penetrative vaginal sex.

He waited but Hermione didn't say anything, she appeared to be concentrating on something.

He waited some more before deciding to break into her thoughts, "What did you want to talk to me about Hermione?"

"Is it always so…?" She trailed off blushing scarlet.

"Sudden? Not always, I was a bit too excited. I'm sorry… Hopefully with a bit of practice I'll be able to control myself enough to give you some warning," Harry said apologetically, with a shameful blush of his own.

Hermione blushed too. "I was going to say… messy," she whispered.

"Well yeah," Harry replied, his face now absolutely burning with mortification. "It's normally like that."

"Umm, then do you think we might…" Hermione began.

"Might what Hermione?" Harry asked, almost dreading that she would tell him she hated the idea.

"Umm.. try to do that in the shower? Where the mess won't matter so much?" Hermione whispered in a rush to force it out before dying of embarrassment.

"Okay, that's what I normally do when I do it myself," Harry admitted.

"Yes, I know," Hermione admitted.

"Have you been spying on me?" Harry asked surprised but not really upset. If Hermione wanted to watch him wank he guessed she was welcome to, though he didn't know how he'd feel about doing it if he knew she was watching.

"No!" Hermione choked.

"Then how did you know, did I forget the silencing charm? If so I'm sorry I disturbed you," he asked blushing.

"No but I can tell when you've used it, I can't hear the water falling in the shower but I can tell it's still running from the sound in the pipes," Hermione admitted.

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that, maybe I could ask one of the elves to cast a permanent silencing charm on the pipes as well if it would make you feel less awkward. Are you upset that I'm doing it? I'll stop if you don't want me to," Harry offered.

"It doesn't upset me, maybe if we were having regular sex and you still did it regularly, I would be worried that I wasn't good enough, and why you still needed or wanted to do it on your own, but under the circumstances I don't think I have the right to stop you, it wouldn't be fair to deny you…" Hermione rambled a little.

"You're always welcome to come and join me if you want. I'm thinking about you, imagining that it's your hands or mouth anyway," Harry admitted bravely.

"Umm… okay… maybe" Hermione stammered wondering whether she'd ever have the courage to try to join him but more than pleased that he was thinking of her like that every day.

"Do you want to come and have a shower with me now?" Harry invited holding out his hand, realising from her expression that she was tempted to join him but unsure about doing that and if he left it up to her she'd probably have second thoughts and talk herself out of joining him.

Hermione blushed but took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. "Um yeah, I'll meet you in the bathroom," she stammered.

Harry smiled softly and hurried into the bathroom to set up the shower. He pulled off his clothing and stood awkwardly under the water trying to covertly watch the door so he wouldn't be surprised by her entering the shower without making her feel more self-conscious.

Hermione entered clutching her bathrobe tightly closed and Harry move to one side of the shower to give her plenty of room as she hesitated. It was much brighter in the bathroom than it had been in the bedroom last night.

"You know you could leave your dressing gown on for now if you want. Magic will dry it quickly enough, or maybe ask the castle to turn down the lights if it makes you more comfortable," Harry said as she seemed reluctant to drop her robe and join him.

Hermione huffed and quickly pulled it off and stepped into the shower nude, closing the gap to wrap her arms around him so he couldn't stare at her body. Harry wrapped his arms around her too and leaned in to kiss her. They snogged for a while, enjoying the feel of wet skin against wet skin. It seemed easier this time, Harry kept his hands to her waist and back and Hermione felt confident that Harry wouldn't ask more of her than she was offering and relaxed into the kisses. In the end it was her that started to explore his body first, running her hands down his back and over his bum, causing his erection to twitch against her.

Harry stepped forward pushing her against the tile walls which were luckily magically heated, and pressing his body further into hers. Hermione could feel his excitement pressing into her pubic bone but instead of frightening her the way it would have done a week before she was excited and arched her hips up to meet him as he rocked against her.

"I could come just like this," Harry said increasing his thrusts a little. "Is that what you want to do?"

"Do you want to come like this?" Hermione asked, tightening her arms around him.

"Mmmm… It feels really good," Harry almost moaned.

"Then do it, we can try other things next time," Hermione said kissing him again. This time Harry's kisses weren't gentle and sweet, he devoured her mouth and Hermione moaned into the kiss lifting one leg up to wrap around his thighs. Harry moved his hands to her bum and lifted her a little and taking the hint Hermione wrapped the other leg around him too, clinging tightly.

"Is this okay? Am I too heavy?" she asked worriedly.

"No it's good, I've got you," Harry replied. And it was good for her too, the change in position meant he was now thrusting over her clit and his precum lubricated the movement perfectly and she orgasmed with him when she felt his hot release hit her already heated private parts.

Harry immediately pulled away and grabbed the shower hose to rinse her off, almost dropping her as she rushed to get her legs back on the ground to support her and they didn't want to co-operate. "I'm sorry," he said panicked.

"Don't worry Harry, it wasn't close enough to my vagina to be a risk, and it was a lot more pleasurable than being hit in the face with it," Hermione reassured him, also a bit shaken by how out of control she had been.

Harry blushed and hung his head, resting his forehead on her shoulder, which inadvertently gave him a great view of her breasts still heaving as she caught her breath.

"Umm… I should go… and let you wash up," Hermione said blushing.

"You don't have to leave if you don't want," Harry replied, semi-hopefully. He was feeling satiated for the moment but having a naked Hermione in front of him close enough to reach out and touch was still doing pleasurable things to his insides and he knew if she left now they'd both start to overthink things again and it would be even more awkward afterwards. He grabbed his flannel and started to wash himself, he would have liked to wash Hermione instead but he wasn't sure she would want him to and he didn't want to upset her. He didn't want her to run away again.

Hermione hesitated for a moment then grabbed the other flannel adding her own bodywash she started cleaning herself up properly. They finished in only slightly awkward silence and dressed for bed. Hermione regretted having to wear thick flannelette pyjama pants and bed socks under a warm nightie and robe rather than something more attractive but the castle was too cold and draughty to sit about in anything less, even with the fire and warming charms, and she was hoping to sit up and finish at least one more homework assignment before bed. Harry pulled on his own pyjamas and robe, new ones Hermione had insisted he buy while they were at her parents' home at Christmas and went out to stoke up the fire and refresh the warming charms in their living room area before returning to work on his charms homework. He smiled at Hermione as she came out and joined him and she smiled back before concentrating on her work.

They were fine until they finished studying and then had to awkwardly get into bed together. Normally he showered in the evening to give Hermione privacy to get ready for bed and Hermione was at least pretending to be asleep when Harry got out of the shower but tonight he was tired and wanted to go to bed as soon as he finished the homework required for the next day and they were both already in their pyjamas ready for bed and he was worried that if he did shower again Hermione would think it was because what they'd done earlier wasn't enough for him, though Hermione was wearing more pyjamas than she normally wore in bed she didn't pull them off but curled up facing away from him.

"Good night Hermione," Harry said trying to lie as he normally did and relax.

"Good night Harry," Hermione replied.

It took them both a long time to fall asleep that night in spite of how tired they both were.

Harry smiled sleepily at the feeling of Hermione pressed up against him like usual the next morning. She must have got too hot during the night and pulled off her pyjama pants and her nightie had ridden up like usual because he could feel the bare skin of her legs against his. For not the first time he cursed early morning practice that meant he couldn't lie there and cuddle until Hermione woke up, but this time he didn't even have the comfort of rationalising that it was for the best, that Hermione wouldn't want to wake up like that. Now though he wondered if she would be okay with it and what lazy morning snuggling would be like once she was awake enough for him to touch without feeling like he was violating her trust.

Hermione was waiting for him again when he got out of the shower after quidditch practice and this time she was the one to smile and take his hand as they walked down to breakfast together. The ate breakfast with their friends and then Hermione gave him a small kiss on the mouth instead of the cheek before she left him for Arithmancy. Harry grinned all the way through an hour in the library and down to Care of Magical Creatures.

Ron and Neville looking at his grinning face both looked away in envy, things were obviously going well on the marriage front for Harry and Hermione. The two boys were slowly coming to terms with the fact that Hermione had married Harry, and they were forced to admit that Harry was more suited to Hermione, neither of them wanted to deal with her mania for studying and they could see that Harry was now spending a lot more time on his schoolwork. The truth was that they were lonely, neither had been particularly close to each other in the past and sharing a room just the two of them just emphasised the fact that the other three had something they didn't have, especially when they arrived at breakfast with a post sex goofy smile like Harry was wearing now. They were also starting to worry about who the ministry would match them with since the majority of their friends were already married. Neville knew that his grandmother was trying to make a match for him amongst her friends not trusting the ministry to pair him with a witch with the proper sort of skills and attitudes to be the next Lady Longbottom. He dreaded to think who she would choose since she didn't seem to approve of him most of the time. Gran had sent him a letter demanding that he get permission to come home one weekend soon and meet the eligible bride she'd chosen for him. He almost wondered whether he'd be better off with a ministry match. His Gran had never seemed to know him very well or accept that he wasn't a carbon copy of his father and while he would have given his right kidney if he'd known enough about anatomy to know he could live without one for a chance to get to know his mother properly before she was crucio'd into insanity and unresponsiveness he didn't want to marry a replica of her or worse the type of witch his gran thought his father should have married instead of his mother.

Ron on the other hand was starting to realise that this was really going to happen and like it or not he would be married in a few months' time, and that it wouldn't just be a thing on paper it was going to change his life in all sorts of small ways the way being married had changed Harry and Hermione even though they were already best friends. He admitted to himself that he wasn't ready to make such a commitment, not even ready to leave the support of having his parents make most of the big decisions for him except during an adventure with Harry. He only hoped that his wife would be willing to spend the summer at the Burrow and that she was a decent cook. Ron had never stayed anywhere away from his family except to come to Hogwarts and he didn't want to have to deal with staying with a strange family even if or perhaps especially because he'd married their daughter. He'd heard the stories from Harry and Seamus and others of how awkward it was to suddenly meet and stay with their parents-in-law and he dreaded it. The truth was he'd always been secretly glad that neither Harry nor Hermione had ever invited him to stay with them over the summer instead of coming to the Burrow but now he felt incredibly unprepared for the stress of having to try to fit into the routines of another family. He was also beginning to be uncomfortably aware from his friend's stories and Hermione's increasing nagging about things like table manners that if those things were important to his wife's family then they weren't going to like the way he ate or a lot of his other habits but he felt that it was too much for them to be the ones to expect him to change. He began to regret not putting more effort into wanting the marriage ritual to work with Hermione, at least he knew her and her family knew his, though from some of the things Harry had said there had still been issues before they understood what the marriage ritual was saving Hermione from.

A/N: Please everyone, stay home if you can and keep your distance from others, stay safe take care of yourselves and your loved ones and don't lose hope, believe that this will pass. We will get through this.

A/N2: Thank you to all those who reviewed, followed or favourited this story for your support.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do **NOT**give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

The weeks went past and Harry and Hermione became a lot less awkward about changing in front of each other or climbing into bed at the same time and cuddling up together. Hermione frequently joined Harry in the shower of an evening to kiss and touch each other when she wasn't too caught up in her reading or studying, though never in the morning, and they'd begun washing each other's bodies after getting off some nights, other nights Hermione preferred to wash herself though she stayed and talked to Harry as she did and it was in the shower that they were able to talk about what they were doing, which encounters that each of them particularly enjoyed or felt more awkward about, as well as other emotional things. Harry pleasured Hermione orally several times and after her initial embarrassment at the idea of his head being down there and him looking at her so intimately, she admitted that that was one of the things she'd like to try one day in bed, but she was unable to return the favour. Harry told her that it didn't matter that what she was able to do with her hands or rubbing her body against his were both fantastic enough in his opinion and he never wanted her to do anything that she disliked or would cause her distress. Still the inability worried her, from the girl talk she'd overheard over the years most other girls seemed able to tolerate a penis in their mouth without gagging. The books Harry had brought were no help in this circumstance so Hermione took the problem to her favourite way of finding a solution, the library. Of course, there weren't any books on sexual relations at all so blushing madly she tried to search the bookstore in Hogsmeade.

Finally, desperate Hermione asked the one female friend she was sure would probably know the answer who wouldn't gossip about her not knowing or make too much fun of her for it. Katie didn't take offence at Hermione's assumption that she would know those sort of spells for sexual use and had never been a gossip or malicious, she was happy to teach her the charm to suppress her gag reflex for Harry's sake and to warn her to make sure she cancelled it before trying to eat or drink to avoid the risk of aspiration or making a fool of herself in front of their housemates.

That night Hermione was visibly nervous as she joined Harry in the shower.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Nothing is wrong Harry, I'm fine," Hermione said.

"You never believe me when I tell you I'm fine," Harry said gently. "Please talk to me."

"Seriously Harry, it's nothing," Hermione insisted.

"No it isn't, Hermione. You're nervous about something. What is it?" Harry asked.

"I want to try something new, and I'm a bit unsure if I can do it," Hermione admitted.

"You don't have to do anything you feel uncomfortable with. I'm perfectly happy with what we've been doing," Harry said reassuringly.

"I know but I wanted to try something and I've learned the spell that should make it possible to do it properly but I've never been able to before and it's not the type of thing I can practice on my own," Hermione said softly.

"Okay then, you can try. If you don't like it, that's okay. What do you want me to do?" Harry replied encouragingly.

"Um, Katie said it might be better if I get used to the spell before I did this in the shower…" Hermione began.

"So, you want me to get clean and get out and wait for you in bed?" Harry asked.

"Please," Hermione said not looking at him.

"Do you want me to make you come first? It might help you relax," Harry asked, washing himself efficiently.

"Umm, no" Hermione stammered.

Harry nodded. He finished showering and pulled on his dressing gown, lighting the fire in the grate and casting warming charms on the bedroom and the sheets on the bed before sitting down to wait.

Hermione came out wrapped in her dressing gown with her arms almost wrapped around herself.

She made no move to approach the bed and after a moment Harry came over and wrapped his arms around her. "Nothing you want to do is worth stressing yourself out like this," he said gently.

"I want to do it," Hermione said. "I want to try."

"Then you can, but it isn't worth getting so upset over. Either it will work and we'll have some fun or one of us will decide we don't want to try it again, either way it will be okay," Harry said gently. He led her back to the bed and pulled off his dressing gown laying on his back calmly.

Hermione looked at him lying there patiently and squared her shoulders, pulling off her dressing gown she enlarged the fire and climbed onto the bed. She kissed Harry then slowly moved down, kissing his jaw and then his neck leaving a lovebite once she was low enough for his shirt to cover it.

"The guys on the team will still see it," Harry warned.

"Do you really care?" Hermione asked.

"No," Harry admitted. The team got along well and any teasing he received would not be malicious, he could handle it.

Hermione bit his nipples gently sucking on them. She'd done this before and Harry loved the feeling arching his back and moaning his appreciation as he began to understand what she was going to try to do. She then bit around his belly button making him squirm and giggle.

"Sorry," Hermione murmured.

"It's okay," Harry said stroking her cheek softly and relaxing back again.

Hermione moved downwards again and went to take the head of his erection into her mouth.

"Please don't bite it," Harry exclaimed hurriedly.

Hermione almost chuckled. "I won't," she promised running her tongue around the head before sucking in as much as she could. The spell prevented her from gagging but the feel of him down her throat was still uncomfortably odd and she swallowed. It was difficult to swallow with such a huge thing in her mouth without biting but she thought she'd managed okay. Harry's groans certainly didn't sound pained and she could feel the blood vessels throbbing against her tongue.

"Hermione I'm going to…" Harry said hurriedly before exploding into her mouth, his hips thrusting involuntarily.

Hermione almost choked. The spell stopped her gag reflex but his thrusts sent him so far down her throat that she couldn't breath and she frantically threw her head back letting him drop from her mouth, the last of his eruption coating the outside of her throat and into her hair.

Harry watched in concern as she coughed and panted. "Are you okay?"

"Um, yeah. Just need to catch my breath," Hermione said recovering. "Did you like it?"

"It felt amazing," Harry said grinning. "Did you?"

"Yes, the spell worked well I just couldn't breathe at the end," Hermione replied.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to thrust so far," Harry apologised.

"It's okay, I'll expect it next time," Hermione said grinning.

"Or hold me down so I can't," Harry suggested. "That is, if you do want there to be a next time. You don't have to, you know."

"I didn't mind doing it, I just think I need a little more practice to make it better," Hermione said blushing.

"Hermione, it was amazing. I don't think that you could make it better from my end," Harry said sitting up to hug her. He reached up to cup her cheek to draw her into a kiss. "But you might want to tie your hair back next time, you're going to need to wash it again."

Hermione groaned, her hair would be totally unmanageable after being washed twice in one night, "Yeah, I better do that," she said, sliding off the bed.

"Want some help?" Harry asked softly.

"Not help, you make too many tangles but I wouldn't mind some company," Hermione replied blushing.

Harry realised that she hadn't come and quickly got up to join his wife in the shower and reward her for her efforts, glad that she was now comfortable enough to have him there even when she didn't feel she had something to prove. Hermione greeted him with a smile and he grinned, and cast warming charms on the walls before dropping to his knees.

-o0o-

The other married couples in Gryffindor seemed to be slowly sorting out their problems and getting along more amicably as well or at least managing to keep their squabbles out of the great hall and the common room, and everything was going relatively well. Every week or so one of the upperclassmen that were still single got a letter from the ministry announcing the name of their soon to be husband or wife and while most of these letters were greeted with anger or disappointment and a whole lot of nervousness the ministry seemed to be taking compatibility seriously now and nobody was truly disgusted with or frightened by the name of their match this time, though very few were actually happy with them. Nobody was desperate enough to approach the married students to ask them to recreate the marriage ritual they had used.

In April

Neville was married over the Easter break and Harry and Hermione were invited to the wedding. His bride, chosen for him by his grandmother was a pretty girl, shy and polite, at least in public. She and Neville had had four chaperoned meetings over the last couple of months but he was yet to have a private conversation with her. They had been corresponding but Neville had privately told Harry that he believed that her mother probably read the letters he sent and received, which stilted the things he could write about.

The ceremony was very formal and straightforward, Hermione found it disappointing and was glad that if they did have a ceremony to make her parents happy it would be a muggle ceremony and far more romantic than this one which seemed to her to be more like formalising a business agreement than a marriage.

"I don't see how this is better than a ministry match," Hermione said quietly as she watched the two of them make their rounds greeting their guests.

"From Neville's point of view, it isn't. Though the fact his Gran approves of his wife might help to keep the peace in the house," Harry replied.

"She didn't marry his Gran, she married Neville. He might have been better with a ministry match now that they seem to be done on genuine compatibility," Hermione said.

"Perhaps, but it's too late now. She seems nice enough but I can't see anyone who wanted you for a wife being happy with such a submissive wife but then again Ron thought he wanted to marry you too and a wife like that would be perfect for him, maybe it will be for Neville too. Build his confidence by letting him be the strong one. His Gran always over-dominated him." Harry said.

"He will need to start to stand up for himself. Augusta Longbottom has chosen herself a granddaughter-in-law that will let her continue to rule the roost," Hermione commented.

"You think she chose the girl that was in her own best interests rather than what was best for Neville?" Harry asked.

"When has she ever put Neville's needs and wants above her own best interests?" Hermione asked pointedly, and Harry had to admit she was right.

-o0o-

Neville joined them towards the end of the night. "Is Elsie coming back to Hogwarts with you, Nev?" Harry asked.

"Not this year, her mother home schools her but her family have agreed that she can attend Hogwarts next year," Neville replied.

"Does that mean you're not coming back to finish the year?" Hermione asked concerned.

"I'll be back during the week. I have permission to go home on weekends, well to stay with Elsie and her family." Neville said, not looking very excited about the prospect.

"And will she be a sixth or seventh year next year?" Hermione asked.

"No McGonagall said she can come and attend the end of year exams to see where she will fit best but I think she will be a fourth or fifth year from what little I've seen and heard about what she's studying at the moment, she isn't ready to sit her OWLS," Neville replied.

Harry and Hermione were both a little surprised because Neville had previously told them that Elsie would be seventeen in September but they didn't know how to ask why she would be in the lower class without it sounding rude or judgemental.

"Then why did you marry her now rather than waiting for the summer you had at least five weeks after we break up before your birthday?" Seamus asked.

"I would have preferred to wait and get to know each other a little better but Elsie is seventeen next week," Neville replied.

"So you've finally got to talk to her without her mother hovering over your shoulder, do you like her a bit better now?" Harry asked quietly.

Neville sighed. "I don't know yet. It hasn't made a difference. Her mother has still been hovering close by all night and Elsie still seems to feel she needs to be on her best behaviour. The only clear opinion I've heard from her all night was that she preferred the chicken over the lamb and the chocolate dessert."

"I'm sure she's just shy, none of her friends are here, poor thing. I wonder why not?" Leanne said.

"It isn't fair that she couldn't have her friends come to her wedding. Bring her over to meet us properly, hopefully we can get her to talk like normal teenagers," Parvati suggested.

"Be nice to her. I don't think she knows many people our age," Neville pleaded.

"Don't worry Neville, I won't let Hermione bite," Harry said teasingly, earning an elbow to his ribs. But Neville chuckled and relaxed a little so it was worth it.

"Come and meet my friends," Neville said.

"Okay," Elsie said nervously.

"They're all nice, don't worry. You'll like them," Neville said encouragingly, realising that he couldn't promise that she would like his friends or even that they would like her because he simply didn't know her well enough.

"Hey guys, I'd like you to meet Elsie, my wife. Elsie this is Harry and Hermione Potter, Dean and Leanne Thomas and Seamus and Parvati Finnegan. Harry, Dean, Seamus and I used to share a dorm room before they were all married in November.

"You all got caught by the ministry law? I thought a lot of those matches were invalidated," Elsie replied.

"They were. We all took advantage of Hermione finding a way for us to get out of the ministry matches by getting bonded before the notifications came," Leanne replied.

"The bond we used is permanent so it couldn't be invalidated or annulled by the ministry," Hermione added.

"So you chose your own husbands and wives," Elsie said shocked.

"Yes, we were lucky to be able to make our own choices. Harry and I have been best friends since we were first years. Marrying so young isn't easy but knowing each other so well has made it a little less stressful," Hermione replied.

"Though not with the parents. Hermione's Dad was ready to forbid her from ever speaking to me again when we first told them," Harry said chuckling.

"Yes, I could never have married a wizard my parents didn't approve of," Elsie said.

"It's fine, my family came around and warmed to Harry quickly enough once we explained why we'd bonded, the new law and who I'd been paired with instead. They quite like Harry, it was just the situation that shocked them. They weren't ready for me to be married and were very upset that they weren't able to be present for the wedding or to be asked for their approval beforehand. Are you looking forward to coming to Hogwarts next year?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not sure. I really wanted to go when I was eleven. I did get a Hogwarts' letter but my parents wanted to keep me at home," Elsie replied. "Now I have to be tested to see what year I'll be in unless I sit my OWLs at the ministry this summer and I don't know that I'm ready. It will be embarrassing to be in a class with younger students and none of them will be married either and they've already spent years together and I'll be an outsider so I don't know how I'll make friends with them if I'm not sharing a dorm with the same girls I'm in class with."

"You'll will be in the same dorm as your class unless you share married quarters with Neville," Leanne said.

"Hogwarts will let me choose where I stay?" Elsie asked surprised.

"Well it's a decision you and Neville should talk about and make together but yes of course. The staff really did not approve of the new law applying to school aged witches and wizards. They're not going to force you to live as a married couple unless you feel ready. It's a way of trying to reduce the stress that newly married teenagers are facing in the hope they can then concentrate on their studies," Hermione explained, hoping that if she didn't choose the married accommodation, Neville would never find out that it was her fault.

"Do any of you still live in the girls' dorms?" Elsie asked.

"No but then we all chose our husbands for ourselves so of course we wanted to be with them," Leanne replied, smiling at Dean.

"There's nobody at all left in our dorm so if they put you in the dorm your supposed to be in for your age you'd have it to yourself, of course it's still warded so boys can't get in so Neville couldn't visit you"

"Why wouldn't they put me in the seventeen year old dorm?" Elsie asked.

"Dorms aren't allocated by age but in class levels, you haven't taken OWLs so you'll be placed with the fourth or fifth years, most of the younger years aren't married so it will help you get to know your classmates," Hermione explained.

"I don't know that I want to share with a bunch of little girls, it will be embarrassing enough going to class with them, maybe I should just stay here," Elsie said.

"Going to Hogwarts is the only chance you'll have to learn to live with Neville without any of your relatives or his grandmother watching and judging your every move, I'd move in with him if I were you," Leanne said encouragingly.

"Yeah it will give you time to get to know each other and to quarrel and work things out without both sides of the family interfering with every argument. Building a relationship is tough enough without that," Parvati said knowledgeably.

"You want me to talk to Neville about sharing a room?" Elsie looked terrified.

"You just married Neville, you should be able to talk to him about how you want your marriage to work," Hermione said firmly. "If you want to be happy then the two of you need to talk and make decisions together and not let your mother and Neville's Gran make them for you."

"Oh, I couldn't! Don't your parents make decisions for you?" Elsie asked surprised.

"No they don't. Well they did have some say in where Harry and I slept while we were in their house when we visited at Christmas but I let them do that to help them come to terms with the idea Harry and I are married and let him stay with us so they could get to know him. They had no say in Harry and I sharing a room at school and I won't let them dictate to us like that over the summer," Hermione replied.

"What if they don't approve?" Elsie asked.

"Either they'll accept that Harry and I are married, with all that entails or I'll stay with Harry for the summer instead of him staying with me and my parents. They liked Harry once they got to know him a bit better and they know what the consequences would've been if I'd let the ministry choose my partner. The ministry's first choice before they rooted out the corruption in the matching process was disastrous, I would've been lucky not to have been permanently harmed or murdered by the time the ministry relented and annulled the marriage and I don't know that they would even have looked into it and invalidated the first set of matching if so many of us hadn't found a way around the ministry matches and put up a resistance," Hermione retorted. "But you don't even have to give your parents time to accept the idea since they obviously approve of the marriage already."

"It was grandfather who chose the match for me," Elsie said softly.

"So, your parents don't approve of Neville?" Hermione asked, concerned.

"Why not, Neville's a great guy?" Harry said surprised and a bit insulted on behalf of his friend. The last thing Neville needed was to feel that he'd been forced into a marriage where his wife and in-laws didn't approve of him.

"Neville's the heir to the most ancient and noble house of Longbottom, not to mention wealthy and will become Lord Longbottom as soon as he finishes his NEWTs. I would've thought your parents would be delighted by the match, he was the second most eligible light wizard in our generation" Parvati added, sneaking a sly glance at the number one most eligible wizard and his wife. Hermione huffed in annoyance as she realised the significance of her look.

"It's not that they don't approve exactly. I think Mother and Father quite like Neville, they just aren't happy that we had to marry so quickly. They didn't want an arranged marriage for me at all and we barely know Neville," Elsie said blushing.

"But that is in no way Neville's fault, your parents are being incredibly unfair if they take it out on him. If you hadn't married Neville you would've been matched up by the ministry by now and had to marry someone else anyway," Hermione said decisively.

"Was there someone else you would have preferred to marry? Leanne asked bluntly.

"Or someone else your parents wanted you to marry?" Hermione asked.

"No, I just always dreamed of marrying for love, which I know seems foolish now but it's not nice to have your dreams shattered like this," Elsie said miserably.

"Even half of the pairs who used the marriage ritual at Hogwarts to thwart the ministry matches didn't marry for love unfortunately, they married for fear and desperation and friendship but most of the marriages are successful. Love will come if you let it," Parvati said.

"You should concentrate on building a friendship with Neville, learn to communicate with each other before you worry about romance," Hermione replied encouragingly.

"That's Hermione, always taking the practical route, she's usually not wrong though," Parvati said sighing. "Just don't go developing a crush on someone else."

Elsie giggled, "I can't imagine doing that, most of the boys my age and older will already be married or engaged anyway."

"But the boys in your class and those a couple of months younger than you won't be yet," Leanne warned. "I'm older than Dean and it really doesn't make much difference."

"The boy-who-lived is at Hogwarts isn't he? What's he like? Neville refused to talk about him," Elsie asked.

Harry and Hermione just looked at her in shock that she didn't seem to realise who Harry was, enabling their friends to get a few digs in.

"Utterly besotted with his wife," Parvati said warningly.

"Led around by the nose by her too" Dean added laughing.

"Totally henpecked, he's even turning into a bit of a swot to make her happy," Seamus said grinning.

Hermione huffed at them but Harry just laughingly protested, "Guys, really."

"He's the bravest person I know and totally cool in a crises but in everyday situations he's just a normal boy, not full of himself at all, but yes we all know his wife is the one person he would do absolutely anything for," Leanne said.

"He hates being called the boy-who-lived, and he hates being stared at or gossiped about because of his fame, just treat him normally and he'll become one of the best friends you could ever have," Hermione said.

"I'm just me, a normal person," Harry said when Elsie looked at him for an answer.

Elsie looked shocked and Harry laughed, I'm guessing you missed that part of Nev's introduction," he said ruefully.

"I didn't talk about him because he's my friend, he's not some fancy icon, just a normal guy and a good friend," Neville said to her earnestly before grinning. "But everyone else's descriptions were pretty spot on. It's definitely Hermione who rules the roost in that marriage, and Harry's more than happy to let her."

"Oi!" Harry exclaimed playfully shoving his friend.

"I do not. We have a democracy!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Face it Hermione, your personality is naturally bossy and that man worships the water he believes you walk on. There isn't anything he wouldn't do for you," Parvati said bluntly.

Harry and Hermione both blushed causing their friends to laugh again.

A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed followed or favourited this story for your support.

I wish everyone the best in this time. Please stay safe and keep your distance, stay at home if you can and keep in contact with family and friends on line.


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